Fix Bonus Overtime and Roll-Call Pay Before Monday

The Department of Labor issued six new opinion letters: four Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) letters and two Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) letters. They point to payroll, classification, and leave records that need a check before the next payroll run.

The letters do not require a new policy manual. The practical task is to check whether the same error is already in your payroll file or leave tracker. That is the line between a legal requirement and a good-practice cleanup. With payroll due Monday, run the checklist now.

Check bonus overtime first

Incentive bonuses for non-exempt waste-management drivers must be added to the regular rate and used to recalculate overtime premiums. A payroll system that keeps a bonus as a separate line may understate overtime. The fix is to include the bonus in the regular rate before computing overtime. Pull one bonus payroll, compare the bonus amount to the regular rate, and recompute the overtime premium before the next payroll run.

Recheck classification and roll-call time

An hourly social worker does not qualify for the learned-professional exemption when the salary-basis requirement is not met. Job title alone does not preserve exempt status. Hourly pay requires a recheck of the exemption before the next payroll run. Reclassification changes overtime, leave, and payroll treatment. Do not leave an exempt label on a record that fails the salary-basis test.

A mandatory 15-minute pre-shift roll call for 911 dispatchers is payable work time. A union contract can provide a partial overtime exemption under FLSA 7(b)(1) or 7(b)(2). Timekeeping that starts the clock after roll call misses compensable time. An existing union contract that provides a partial overtime exemption should be noted in the file.

Separate tips, commissions, and FMLA counting

Customer tips do not satisfy the commission requirement in FLSA section 7(i), even though tips applied toward a tip credit count as compensation. For a 7(i) commission file, keep tips separate from the pay claimed as commissions. A file that mixes customer tips with the pay claimed as commissions needs separation before relying on the exemption.

For intermittent or partial-week FMLA leave, school closure days generally do not reduce the balance. When an employee is out for a full workweek, the employer may charge FMLA leave for one full workweek. Travel time for a covered medical visit can count as FMLA leave when the visit is for the employee's own serious health condition. A covered family member's serious health condition gets the same treatment. Unrelated errands do not count. Record the reason for each absence and the leave period it affects. For closure days, keep the school-closure reason in the absence note. For travel, keep the medical-visit purpose in the leave record.

Run this checklist before the next payroll run

Use the list as a triage before the next payroll run. Each item maps to one of the six letters and a control you can test in a minute. A failed item needs the payroll or leave record fixed first, then the correction documented. The list covers payroll math, classification, timekeeping, FMLA, and documentation.

• Pull one non-exempt bonus payroll and recalculate overtime using the bonus-inclusive regular rate.
• Check one hourly professional's pay record to confirm the salary-basis test before keeping an exempt status.
• Check one pre-shift roll call record to confirm it is paid as time worked, and note any union partial overtime exemption.
• Check one 7(i) commission file to confirm tips are separated from commissions.
• Check one intermittent or partial-week FMLA record to confirm school-closure days are not deducted, and one full-workweek record to confirm a full week is charged.
• Check one FMLA travel record to confirm covered medical appointment travel is counted and errand time is not.