Employee Have a Potential FLSA

¶ … employee have a potential FLSA claim?

The question as to whether or not the employee has viable arguments under the FLSA is a two-fold one. The first question involves whether his time spent keeping himself in shape due to the special requirements of his job should be compensable time while the second question addresses how the required on-call time should be treated.

As to the on-call time, this is a very specific question that is treated by the provisions of the FLSA on a case by case basis (Schwartz). Under the FLSA not all on-call time is considered as hours worked. For instance, workers who are not required to remain on the employer's premises are not considered working under the FLSA. Based on the facts in this case, the employee was free to engage in whatever personal activities he wished as long as he remained in the area. The level of freedom that he enjoys is determined on the basis of how often he is forced to respond to an on-call matter. This factor is not revealed by the facts provided. Under the circumstances, the employee's claim for compensation for on-call time is likely invalid under the provisions of FLSA.

As to the employee's claim that he should be compensated for additional time that he has spent working out in order to keep himself in shape for the job, such claim is without any merit. The facts evidence that the employer already provides its employees with an opportunity to work out during regular work hours. This is a benefit that the employer provides as it is not required legally to do so. The fact that the employee wants to do additional work is not the employer's responsibility and the employer has no legal duty to compensate the employee for time that the employee spends beyond his normal hours for working out. The human resource official is correct in his assessment and any claim that the employee might make for overtime on this basis will be denied under the provisions of the FLSA.

2. Explain five things employer can do to insure compliance with FLSA.

The most important action that an employer can take to ensure compliance with FLSA is to remain organized and pay attention to detail (Deadrick). Overtime violations have replaced discrimination claims as the number one problem relative to FLSA compliance and accurate and detailed record keeping can alleviate most of these problems. In regard to this record keeping it is essential that human resource departments properly classify each employee's exempt / non-exempt status as to the paying of overtime. The provisions of the FLSA carefully detail which employees are eligible for overtime and which are not. Human resource departments must follow the FLSA language strictly in making this determination.