Maria Chen, the Human Resources (HR) Director at Global Manufacturing Corp., is revising and updating the HR guidebook. She needs to ensure that her HR department, as well as the organization's managers, understand current requirements with recent updates to overtime regulations and several pending lawsuits. She drafts a Q&A section addressing key overtime questions.
As Maria’s assistant, you have been tasked with preparing a presentation for her to deliver at the next quarterly managers’ meeting.
Please review the following website: How to Calculate Overtime Pay: A Comprehensive Guide
Then, create an 8–10-slide presentation (not including title and reference slides; with 200-250 word speaker notes per slide) that addresses the following:
Describe and analyze the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
What are the current requirements for someone to be classified as exempt or non-exempt from overtime pay?.
What are some examples of exempt jobs and non-exempt jobs?
Some states and organizations are challenging overtime pay rules. Do you recommend using the old rules or the new rules? Explain your reasoning.
Feel free to use the following Web site as a resource for completing this assignment: How to Calculate Overtime Pay: A Comprehensive Guide.
Good morning, everyone. As we revise our HR guidebook and navigate some recent regulatory shifts and pending lawsuits, it’s critical that every manager understands the foundation of U.S. wage law: the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Signed into law in 1938 during the Great Depression, the FLSA was designed to protect workers and stimulate the economy by discouraging long hours. Its core purpose is to establish minimum standards for wages and working hours across the country. For us at Global Manufacturing, the FLSA is not an option; it is a mandatory federal requirement. Understanding this law is fundamentally about compliance, cost control, and risk mitigation. Non-compliance, whether accidental or intentional, leads to significant financial penalties, back pay liabilities, and costly litigation—which, as you know, is currently a high-priority risk for us. The most common source of error for companies like ours is the misclassification of employees as "exempt" from overtime. Our goal today is to equip you with the knowledge to correctly classify your teams, approve overtime appropriately, and protect the organization from these costly violations. We need to shift our thinking from "how can we save money on labor" to "how can we ensure 100% compliant labor practices."
Slide 2: FLSA Core Requirements and Classification
Title: The Two Pillars: Non-Exempt Status and Overtime Pay
Visual: A flow chart showing "Employee" → "Non-Exempt?" (Yes/No) → If Yes: "Over 40 Hrs/Wk?" → If Yes: "Time and a Half."
Speaker Notes (235 words):
The FLSA defines two fundamental requirements we must adhere to. The first is the federal minimum wage, and the second is overtime pay. For any employee who is considered non-exempt—meaning they are not exempt from the law’s protections—they must be paid at least time and one-half (1.5 times) their regular rate of pay for any hours worked over 40 in a single workweek. Importantly, this standard applies regardless of whether the overtime was authorized by a manager. If a non-exempt employee works 45 hours, we must pay them for 45 hours, including five hours of overtime. This is crucial for supervisors to understand: failure to monitor and restrict unauthorized overtime doesn't absolve the company of the wage obligation. The FLSA mandates that the clock starts running the moment an employee starts performing work. The entire complex structure of the FLSA hinges on one question: Is the employee exempt or non-exempt? If they are correctly classified as non-exempt, the overtime rule applies unequivocally. If they are classified as exempt, they are exempt only if they meet all three of the Department of Labor's strict tests, which we will analyze next.
Sample Answer
Overtime Regulation Update: A Manager's Toolkit
Title Slide
Title: Navigating Overtime: FLSA Compliance and Classification Updates Presenter: Maria Chen, HR Director Audience: Global Manufacturing Corp. Managers Date: [Current Date]
Slide 1: Introduction to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
Title: The Foundation: What is the FLSA? 🏛️
Visual: A simple graphic showing three pillars: Minimum Wage, Overtime Pay, and Child Labor Standards.
Speaker Notes (240 words):
Good morning, everyone. As we revise our HR guidebook and navigate some recent regulatory shifts and pending lawsuits, it’s critical that every manager understands the foundation of U.S. wage law: the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Signed into law in 1938 during the Great Depression, the FLSA was designed to protect workers and stimulate the economy by