Making Work a Better Place to Be

This is the first e-zine that I have created in the last few months. I have spent the intervening time contemplating how I can better focus the e-zine as a HR tool. There are a number of changes that I have decided to implement. The most obvious of these is the look of the e-zine. A second objective is to make the e-zine more interactive. The addition of a reader question section is my response to this objective.

Perhaps the most significant change in focus, however, is my intention to tailor the e-zine towards my primary research and consulting interest: the creation of workplaces desirable to employees. You’ll notice that I have titled this e-zine Making Work a Better Place to Be. This title comes from a line in a song, It’s Amazing What Praising Can Do. The following are some preliminary thoughts about the steps that an organization can take to help build a desirable workplace.

• The different HR functions have to work together as a system. Recruiting, training, compensation, evaluation, and promotion all need to be in alignment with each other. All too often the different functions have different managers which result in a lack of alignment.
• The primary determinant of the employee satisfaction with the workplace is undoubtedly the organizational culture. A lot has been written about how to build a high performance, positive culture. The problem is that in all too many organizations very little has been done to consciously work on creating the culture. As a result the organizational culture is a product of the informal interactions of employees.
• I am convinced that the work we do with new employees during the first three months of their employment is a critical factor in shaping a positive workplace. This honeymoon period is the best time to shape positive attitudes and to ensure that the new employee is appropriately integrated into the culture.
• If you read the book, First Break all the Rules, you will find the empirical evidence to establish that one of the most significant factors in retaining high performing employees is the relationship between the employee and his or her immediate supervisor. Supervisor training needs to stress this fact above all others.
• There is an old adage, “I am professional; I do not need to like you in order to be able to work with you.” While in too many cases that adage needs to be true in order for work to be completed, the other side of the coin is that high performance is most certainly a product of alignment and collaboration. More importantly, working under the stress of unhappy relationships clearly does not create a positive workplace.
• Workplace conflict is important and necessary because it is the stimulus to needed change. Feuding and disputing are all too often an unfortunate side product of conflict. There is no positive benefit to feuding and disputing. Every organization needs to adopt methods by which to encourage constructive conflict without the feuding and disputing.
• Recognizing the contributions of each employee is one of the most powerful tools management has to encourage high performance and positive change. Not all recognition programs, however, work. Designing and implementing a recognition program that accomplishes its objectives is critical to organizational effectiveness. Additionally, the employee recognition program is a critical tool towards building a positive workplace.
• Employee recognition, high levels of collaboration, positive supervisor and subordinate relationships, all of these are wonderful. Unfortunately, there are times when management must demonstrate the ability to have a “hard edge” in order to ensure that these positive expressions will dominate the workplace. Disrespect, dishonesty, maliciousness our all cancers in the workplace and must be stamped out. Thus, where positive steps fail to resolve the problem, firm, fair, effective, formal discipline must be administered which includes the right/responsibility to remove the cancer from the workplace.

As you have probably surmised, each of the above bullet points is destined to become the focus of a future e-zine. My intention is to provide both concept and action steps. My hope is that you will find this material helpful to you.

Next Month’s Topic: B.S., F.U., B.H.: Dealing with Obscenity in the Workplace

Reader Question

Due to illness and vacation, I was left short-staffed. I had to have two of my employees work nine days in a row in order to maintain minimal staffing. Was I in violation of any laws by scheduling such a long stretch of work?

Federal legislation is silent on the topic of maximum weekly working hours for most non-minor employees, as long as minimum wage and overtime laws are observed. State laws frequently add some restrictions, however. For example, both California and Illinois have statutes requiring one full day of rest for every seven-day period.

California allows for longer stretches of work than six days for situations that reasonably require them, as long as there are enough days of rest in a calendar month to make the ratio of days worked to rest days at least six to one. Illinois does not make this exception, but lifts the requirement from executive, administrative and professional workers (among others). Consult your state Department of Labor for more information on this and other topics relating to wage and hour legislation.

Note: Do you have a perplexing HR question? Send us the question by clicking on thehawthornegroup@msn.com and let us take a shot at answering it. We will select one question each month and research it. Please indicate whether we have permission to publish your name and organization when identifying the question .

Books of the Month

Professional Growth Are you tired of the ditty, ‘think outside the box?” Then, you will find value in reading this month’s fast paced selection which encourages us to get back to the basics.

Get Back in the Box – Douglas Rushkoff

Personal Growth Parker Palmer is one of my favorite authors and his most recent book explores in a very meaningful way the path to being a whole person

The Hidden Wholeness – Parker Palmer

Quote of the Month

Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experiences of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved.

Helen Keller

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A Thoughtful Review of the Latest Changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)

Having received a couple of requests for info on the new overtime regs, I decided to provide a comprehensive overview of the changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act. Basically, despite Congressional challenges, new federal overtime rules are in effect that substantially change the overtime status of millions of American workers. The “Overtime Security Rule” is a revision of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) which was implemented by the Department of Labor (DOL) on August 23^rd of this year. The revision of the FLSA represents only the third time that overtime rules have been updated since the FLSA went into effect in 1938. The last revision occurred in 1975.

How Have the Rules Changed?

The most significant changes in the 474-page revision of the FLSA are an increase in the salary cap of workers who are automatically eligible for overtime and a change in the determination of which employees are exempt from overtime pay.

Under the new rules, any employee who earns up to $23,660 per year is automatically guaranteed overtime whenever they work more than forty hours a week, regardless of their job duties. This is a substantial increase from the previous cap of $8,660 per year, and covers everyone from blue collar workers to clerical staff to managers, regardless of whether they are paid on an hourly or salary basis. The DOL estimates that this change will grant overtime protection to some 6.7 million workers nationwide.

The second change redefines which employees are considered exempt from overtime. Under the new rules, workers who make more than $23,660 per year are exempt from overtime if their duties are professional, administrative or executive. The law also generally excludes anyone who makes $100,000 per year or more from earning overtime, regardless of their duties or salary basis. Critics of the new rules estimate that this change will eliminate overtime protection for nearly 6 million workers.

Who’s Entitled to Overtime?

So how can an employer know for sure which employees should receive overtime? First, for employers who have employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement which gives them more generous rights to overtime than the new rules, the terms of the labor agreement supersede the new rules.

Second, employers should be aware of what the laws are in their particular state. In states that have different overtime provisions, employers must abide by whichever standards are more beneficial to the employee. States that have separate overtime regulations include: Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin. A quick trip to the web site for the DOL of the state will provide any desired information.

After taking these two factors into consideration, there are three major tests for determining overtime eligibility.

1.) How much does the employee earn? If the employee makes less than $23,660 per year ($455 a week), they are automatically entitled to overtime, regardless of their duties or salary basis.

2.) What is the employee’s salary basis? Employees who earn more than $23,660 per year and are paid on a “salary” basis are generally exempt from overtime. Salaried employees are paid a fixed salary per pay period, regardless of hours worked, as opposed to employees who are paid “by the hour”. Hourly employees are generally entitled to overtime pay.

3.) What are the employee’s duties? White collar employees who earn more than $23,660 per year are exempt from overtime if their duties are primarily managerial, administrative or professional.

“Managerial” employees are defined by the rules as those whose primary duty is the management of an enterprise (such as a department, store or subdivision), those who customarily and regularly direct the work of two or more other employees, and who have input into personal decisions such as hiring, firing, promotion, etc. (regardless of whether the employee has the sole discretion to do so). Unless otherwise guaranteed overtime by a collective bargaining agreement, employees in this category generally include: executive staff, managers, assistant managers, supervisors and team leaders.

“Administrative” employees are those whose primary duty is performing office or non-manual work directly related to the management or general business operations of the organization. Administrative employees also exercise “discretion and independent judgment”. Unless otherwise guaranteed overtime by a collective bargaining agreement, employees in this category generally include: administrative assistants, executive secretaries, school principals and vice-principals, school counselors, human resource staff, purchasing staff, public relations and quality control staff.

“Professional” employees are those who are “learned professionals” or “creative professionals”. “Learned professionals” are generally those whose jobs require advanced knowledge of science or some other field of learning which is gained through specialized intellectual instruction. “Creative professionals” are those who perform work requiring invention, imagination, originality or talent. Unless otherwise guaranteed overtime by a collective bargaining agreement, employees in the professional group include: restaurant chefs, nurses, financial service industry workers, insurance claims adjusters, teachers, lawyers, engineers, actors, musicians, dental hygienists, pharmacists, journalists and funeral directors.

The law also guarantees overtime to several groups of workers, regardless of salary or duties, including: blue collar workers (such as carpenters, craftsmen, construction workers, etc.), “first responders” (such as police officers, fire fighters, paramedics and EMTs), computer workers (such as system analysts and computer programmers), and inside sales employees.

For more information on determining which employees are exempt and non-exempt, check out the DOL’s website which includes listings by position and exemption type, exemption tests, fact sheets and frequently asked questions. The website is located at www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/whd/fairpay.

What Steps Should Employers Take to Comply?

There are several steps all employers should take to ensure that their organization is in compliance with overtime rules.

1. Review your state law on overtime

2. Review the provisions of any collective bargaining agreements

3. Check the salary levels and salary status of employees

4. Revise job descriptions and clarify which employees are exempt

5. Train HR and payroll employees on the new rules

6. Consult with legal counsel as needed

Finally, before reclassifying employees as exempt under the new rules, be sure to consider the effect it will have on employee morale and retention. Employers always have the right to voluntarily pay overtime to any worker. As with any new rules, it’s only a matter of time before some of these new overtime provisions are challenged in court.

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