|
|
Q. We just got hit by an out-of-the-blue overtime claim.
Five months ago we gave every professional employee a smart phone to increase productivity. When the memo went out, our office manager and administrative assistant were outraged that everyone but them got a phone. Both threatened to quit. Because we couldn't afford to lose two-thirds of our administrative team, we asked our office manager what they needed. She said if we respected them, they'd have smart phones too. She pointed to the times she went to Costco, only to learn when she returned to the office that we needed a few additional items. When we asked why the desk-bound administrative assistant needed a smart phone, the office manager demanded, "Would you let one of all the employees not have something?" Although we didn't see any reason to give these two smart phones -- it appeared they just wanted them for status and personal reasons -- it seemed like an easy way to keep the peace. So we did it, now we have an overtime claim to deal with. Apparently, they synced their smart phones to their office email and would "work" in the evening by reading messages I sent them -- even though they didn't do any real work until the next day. A. You triggered some of the outrage. Your office manager and administrative assistant had a valid point when they reminded you they were as professional as the others. Instead of referring to some team members as professional, and implying that others aren't, change your language and your thinking. The differences among managers and employees relate to job titles and exempt or nonexempt (from overtime) status. Next, the moment you gave your nonexempt employees smart phones and didn't accompany them with guidelines for use, you opened yourself to an overtime claim. When employers ask nonexempt employees to work beyond eight hours in a day or 40 in a week, the employees deserve additional compensation, even when the work takes minutes. If you allow nonexempt employees to sync their work email to a smart phone and they don't properly document incremental time spent answering email or returning work-related voicemails during personal time, it creates the possibility of liability for undocumented overtime. While tiny amounts of time to read or text mail after hours may not be a legitimate basis for an overtime claim, an office manager or administrative assistant who conducts regular and routine work after hours using a hand-held device deserves to be paid for overtime. If you choose to give non-exempt employees smart phones, you need to clearly restrict business use of the phones to the work day. Unless you see a clear business justification for their doing so, ask that nonexempt employees not sync their work email to personal smart phones. Additionally, don't inadvertently ask nonexempt employees to work overtime. For example, if you email a non-exempt employee after working hours, schedule the email for delivery during the employee's normal work day or specify in the email's subject line that a response isn't needed until the next business day. If you do want nonexempt employees to work beyond the standard work day, ask them to log their time and you pay them for it. A good policy and process needs to enable managers to verify the work performed and assess the business necessity and duration of calls or emails to prove or disprove overtime claims. You may want to institute software that automatically captures wage and hour information directly from their phones. If you realize you have overtime exposure from loose past practices, consider conducting an overtime audit to capture and correct time card discrepancies -- before it becomes a legal problem. Another crucial factor here appears to be the disenchantment of your office manager and administrative assistant with your organization, and their alliance with each other. You bandaged this when you gave them smart phones and didn't delve further into their offer to quit together. Whenever an employee threatens to quit, you need to address all parts of her resentment. If not, it bubbles up again, and what you thought was an easy road to peace becomes a dead end.