So many things to do, so little time to do it. That’s never rung more true. As a result, there’s one scenario HR/Benefits pros need to be on the lookout for: Supervisors asking their non-exempt staffers to get work done off-the-clock.

This scenario is a very real possibility, especially if a supervisor’s unfamiliar with the ins and outs of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The situation: A supervisor’s under the gun to complete a project, and he tries to meet the deadline by asking staffers to put in more hours.

To avoid racking up an expensive overtime bill, the supervisor cuts corners — by either not properly recording employees’ OT hours or simply not paying employees for the extra work.

But if one of those employees sues your company, it’s going to cost a lot more than a little OT.

As Labor and Employment Law Attorney Bill Pokorny points out over at the Wage & Hour Insights blog, under the FLSA, employers must pay employees for any time they are “suffered or permitted” to work.

And if an employee’s work can’t be completed during regular work hours — as the case above suggests — it’d be hard to argue the employee wasn’t “suffered or permitted” to put in the extra time.

Avoiding legal landmines

To avoid wage-and-hour lawsuits, Pokorny says it’s vital supervisors understand:

• Employees must be compensated for all hours worked
• They must set realistic expectations (in other words, they can’t pressure employees to “just get it done” by working off the clock”)
• It’s up to them to check employees’ time records regularly to make sure workers are properly reporting their time (but even if employees don’t keep accurate time records, companies could still be on the hook for unpaid OT, if a supervisor knew about it), and
• It’s legal to require employees to receive authorization before working OT and discipline those who break the rules — but you’ve still got to pay them for the time worked.

Tags: fair labor standards act, FLSA, ot, overtime, Supervisors, unauthorized