Course Description
The Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division’s (WHD) newly launched pilot program, PAID, is designed to speed up the process of resolving inadvertent overtime and minimum wage violations under federal law. PAID stands for “Payroll Audit Independent Determination (PAID),” and the WHD says it’s designed to avoid a situation where an employer would have to pay litigation expenses, attorneys’ fees, or other costs if they were sued for Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) violations.
In light of the new PAID rollout, which is being conducted nationwide for approximately six months according to the DOL, WHD is urging employers “to proactively audit their compensation practices to identify potential non-compliant practices.”
Also, the DOL recently issued three new opinion letters addressing what counts as compensable travel time, whether short breaks required each hour due to an employee’s serious health condition must be paid, and whether certain lump-sum payments to employees are considered “earnings” for purposes of wage garnishment. While the DOL’s opinion letters aren’t legally enforceable, they illustrate how the DOL interprets applicable wage and hour regulations, and thus, can be useful for evaluating how compensation related practices could land on its radar.
Given the WHD’s proactive approach to promoting FLSA compliance, now is a great time to learn what PAID is all about and what your organization can and should do to examine whether any of your pay practices with respect to overtime compensation and minimum wage could be unlawful under the FLSA.
Join us for an all-new webinar on how the PAID program works. And, you’ll get tips on how to conduct an internal audit of your proper overtime and minimum wage calculations and FLSA recordkeeping so you can zero in on any questionable practices before the WHD catches something wrong. Plus, you’ll learn the practical impact of the DOL’s newly issued opinion letters.
You’ll learn:- How PAID works—and the types of claims it applies to
- Which employers are eligible to participate in PAID, and which aren’t
- Why participating in PAID may make good financial sense for some businesses that have been flagged for potential compensation errors and why others should weigh the pros and cons of participating
- What employers participating in PAID must do—and what they cannot do
- The most common ways FLSA violations occur with respect to the calculation and payment of overtime compensation and minimum wage
- How to go about an internal FLSA audit—the steps to take, who should be involved, and who should know
- Why it can be good idea to turn to DOL opinion letters and other persuasive authority to determine whether any of your compensation practices may be flagged for noncompliance
- What to do if you uncover FLSA calculations or pay practices that are wrong—and how to communicate with the workforce
About Your Presenter:H. Juanita Beecher, Esq.
Of Counsel
Fortney & Scott, LLC
H. Juanita (Nita) Beecher is a nationally recognized expert on Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) and U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) matters. She is Counsel to Fortney & Scott, LLC with a focus on OFCCP regulatory affairs. Ms. Beecher's primary focus is labor and employment law with substantial experience with class investigations by the EEOC and OFCCP. She has more than 30 years of experience in labor and employment law particularly with class investigations by the OFCCP and the EEOC. From 2000 to 2015, she led networks of senior diversity, EEO and affirmative action corporate practitioners as well as senior in-house labor and employment lawyers.