New Flowchart Helps Determine What Counts as Hours Worked Under the FLSA

Author: Michael Cardman, XpertHR Legal Editor

An interactive flowchart for determining whether a nonexempt employee's activity counts as hours worked under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) has been added to XpertHR's exclusive Liveflo tool.

With plaintiffs continuing to file thousands of FLSA lawsuits and the government seeking to step up its wage and hour enforcement efforts even further, it has never been more important for an employer to ensure it is properly paying its employees for each hour worked.

This flowchart walks employers through the types of activities that are addressed in the FLSA statute, US Department of Labor regulations and case law:

  • Break periods, such as meal breaks and rest breaks;
  • Travel;
  • Training, lectures and meetings;
  • Sleeping;
  • Waiting time and on-call time;
  • Activities before and after a shift ("preliminary and postliminary") such as walking from the parking lot to a workstation, changing clothes or putting on safety gear; and
  • Miscellaneous activities such as alternative dispute resolution, drug testing and show-up time.

Other XpertHR flowcharts address complex workplace issues such as determining whether a non-union employee's activity is protected under the National Labor Relations Act, disciplining an employee using progressive discipline, determining "pay or play" penalties under the Affordable Care Act and classifying a position as exempt or nonexempt.