Before hiring a good corporate immigration lawyer in in Berks County, PA will always have their corporate clients go through the following with their employees.
FLSA status
Employers must consider carefully whether the position they are looking to hire is exempt from the fair labor standards Act. For many, there is a misconception that paying a salary makes the position exempt from the overtime requirements. Employers must understand that their obligations often go further than the simple payment of salaries. They must also be aware of the changes in legislation as they happen. For instance, starting from December 2016, minimum salaries for exempt employees er week changed to 913 per week.
Wage notifications
In order to avoid future conflicts and ambiguity over wage, employers should be encouraged to include in their employment contracts written notices that specify to the new employees, exempt or not, what they will be entitled to. This is not only best practice, but a trend that is being adopted as a requirement in some states.
Records
Another absolute necessity for employers is the establishment of a system for recording the amount of time employees work. It could be a time clock or a simple written sheet. Either way, this is a requirement under the law. If employees bring claims for overtime, then it is easy for the employer to verify or refute these claims. An additional point is that employers should not only generate proof of work hours but also that of payment provided for those hours. Restaurants are especially guilty of this, paying their employees with cash out of the register or by personal check. This might leave the restaurant open for a wage payment case.
Policies
Employees coming from a new location or country might not necessarily be aware of policies that govern the work they do. Many employers have handbooks that contain all company policies and provide them to employers. These handbooks will normally have information concerning policies like family medical leave, paid leave and other employer processes. Employers should however go a step further and review these policies with their employees, and always update them regularly.
