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Susan Jones
On Jan. 25, approximately 800 Pitt employees received email notifications that their Fair Labor Standards Act designation was changed from overtime-exempt to non-exempt, or vice versa.
The changes were prompted by a review conducted by the Office of Human Resources as part of the Payroll Modernization Initiative. Payroll director Maureen Pastin said about 70% of those affected will move from salaried to hourly employees, with the rest going in the other direction.
After the new job catalog was released in August, Human Resources proactively decided to review the FLSA status of certain employees under the new job structure “to ensure they were complying with federal law,” Pastin said.
The FLSA Calibration Committee was formed and includes personnel from the Human Resources Information Systems, Payroll, Counseling Services and Strategic Projects departments as well as the Office of University Counsel, Payroll and University Communications.
The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) regulates minimum wages, overtime pay, and recordkeeping for all private and government sector employees. Persons who are not eligible for overtime (labeled as exempt employees) must:
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Pay by salary, not by the hour
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Meet standards for executive, professional, administrative, computer or outside sales activities
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Must be compensated at least $35,568 per year (prorated if part-time).
The new appointments will not affect employees’ salaries, although their salary periods will change. Hourly employees are paid every two weeks, while salaried employees are paid monthly.
“While we understand this change may be concerning to affected employees, we really want to emphasize that their job responsibilities, performance or value to the university will not change as a result of the change in their exempt status,” Pastin said. .”
There will also be a “look-back period” for those switching from salaried to hourly wages, during which they can claim overtime pay for the previous two years, particularly on large group projects they worked on. Or take time off if they have to cover for someone. Although Pete’s standard working week was 37.5 hours, he was not paid half-overtime until after 40 hours. Employees are paid regular wages for hours between 37.5 and 40 hours.
To help with this process, Human Resources has trained “time validators” in each affected department who will work with affected employees. The time verification worksheet should be sent back to HR by February 16th.
Those moving to biweekly pay will receive their regular monthly pay at the end of February and will begin submitting weekly time cards on March 4. They will receive their first biweekly paycheck on March 8. Money owed for previous overtime will be included in the April 5 paycheck.
Employees who transition to salaried status will switch status on March 3, but will still submit their final weekly time card on March 4. They will receive their last biweekly paycheck (for the period February 18-March 3) on March 8 and receive their paycheck. First month’s salary on March 29th.
Mark Burdsall, assistant vice chancellor for human resources, said the FLSA program strictly requires “compliance with the law,” which for the payroll team is “very simple.”
But for those affected, it may not be that simple. Some said going from salaried to hourly work felt like a downgrade, even though their pay didn’t change and they might be making more money through overtime.
“We know this is a very personal matter for our employees,” Pastin said. “We are working hard to respond to this change with as much transparency, compassion and empathy as possible. … It is inaccurate to say that non-exempt jobs have more or less meaning than exempt jobs; that’s what they get paid to do This is a difficult message for people to accept. We understand that, and we don’t want to use this project to diminish the importance, value or impact of employees in their roles.”
The Sharepoint website provides additional information for those affected (Pitt password required): https://pi.tt/flsa-resources. Birdsall encouraged those affected to visit the website, even if they think they understand the wage changes. It also contains information about when benefits are deducted.
Susan Jones is editor of The University Times. Contact her: suejones@pitt.edu or 724-244-4042.
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