By Anna Skinner
The Dept. of Labor recently released a statement claiming that the final regulations for which an employee can qualify for an exemption from overtime pay has changed to a salary of $47,476 a year to take effect this December.
Currently, the exemption requirement is $23,660.
“What that means is if you have exempt employees falling below the ($47,476) threshold, you have to pay them for overtime or reduce their hours or give them time off, one of the three,” said Jeff Worrell, Carmel city councilor and owner of Advantage Medical. “I have some employees who fall below the threshold and who will occasionally stay late to help a client. They have to be flexible when a customer needs them, so now with this 40-hour rule, we are going to start keeping track of hours and give time off at the end of the week.”
Worrell said he has already had several meetings regarding these changes, and he is already contemplating ways to deal with the changes.
“We are going to establish a way of having salaried employees who fall into that category to keep track of the hours and reconcile by not hurting the business,” he said. “It’s a big deal. One thing recommended to me was to put employees on hourly. I don’t think that’s necessarily great for the employees, so we are going to try to manage it with giving time off.”
Scott Wolf, owner of Wolfie’s Grill in Noblesville, Carmel, Fishers and Westfield, said that in the restaurant industry, keeping employees below a strict, 40-hour workweek is tough.
“Most managers work 40-hour workweeks so it won’t affect us a whole lot, our biggest thing is just making sure they’re not putting in that overtime,” Wolf said. “But it’s going to happen in our industry, so we are either going to have to pay overtime or put them on hourly.”
For more, visit in.gov/dol/2345.htm.
