National Oct 25, 2016

DOL changes: Is your staff ready to start punching the clock?

Punching the time clock: How to cope with the new overtime rules—a Webinar for you and your clients

The U.S. Department of Labor final rule, which increases the salary threshold below which most employees are entitled to overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act by over 100 percent, will take effect Dec. 1, 2016. The FLSA applies to all businesses whose annual sales total $500,000 or more or who are engaged in interstate commerce, (so these new rules will apply to most PIA-member agencies, as well as your commercial-lines clients). It is estimated that this change will affect 4.2 million employees. Don't wait to learn about these new rules ... Dec. 1 is approaching quickly!

Under the final rule, all employees—with limited exceptions—who earn less than $47,476 a year ($913 a week) must be paid overtime (time-and-a-half for any hours over 40). In some cases, even if employees make in excess of $47,476 a year, they are still required to be paid overtime unless they satisfy a "duties test" to be exempt from overtime requirements.

In order to prepare PIA members and your clients for this dramatic change, PIA will be hosting a Webinar on Friday, Nov. 4, 2016, from 10-11 a.m.

Some of the topics that will be covered in the webinar include:

• the white-collar exemptions under the FLSA;
• what types of employees may fall under those exemptions;
• what type of work is considered compensable under the FLSA;
• best practices to adopt when tracking nonexempt employees' hours; and
• what can be done if a nonexempt employee does work more than 40 hours without the employer's consent.

After the program, there will be a question-and-answer session where attendees will have an opportunity to ask specific questions they may have.

Insurance professionals can register today for this session at http://www.pia.org/EDU/webinar/#Nov4.

Offer an important service to your commercial-lines clients by encouraging them to register for this Webinar, which will outline these important changes that will affect their business operations. They can register at http://pages.pia.org/overtime.