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5 Ways Employers Can Comply With New Overtime Pay Rules

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5 Ways Employers Can Comply With New Overtime Pay Rules

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Overtime pay rules

As most medical practices are aware, new overtime pay rules are going into effect this year that will require you to overhaul how you pay certain salaried, full-time staff members who earn over $55,068 a year. If you want to comply with the laws, you’ve got to take steps now that help you achieve that goal.

Check out five ways you can get ready for the new overtime pay rules right now.

1. Don’t Wait for the Overtime Pay Rules to Go Into Effect

Some medical practices are waiting for legal challenges to go through the court system before they start planning for the overtime pay rules to go into action. However, because it may take time to identify which employees will be impacted and how, it’s important to start planning now rather than waiting.

If you wait too long and an employee blows the whistle on your practice for not paying overtime even if they’re eligible, you’d have to produce proof that you were on track to comply with the new law. If you can’t share any such documentation, it would be obvious that you lagged behind and didn’t prepare appropriately, and you would likely be found at fault.

2. Determine Which Employees Are Impacted

It’s a good idea to partner with an attorney to evaluate how you’ll have to change the way you pay certain employees. This not only allows you to handle the new overtime pay rules in a compliant way, but also protects you from accusations of liability, since it’s clear that you’ve made a good faith effort to comply.

An attorney can help you identify which employees will need to be reclassified. For instance, suppose you have a nurse who’s earning $56,000 a year. They’re above the salary threshold that would require paying overtime, but only by a few thousand dollars. In this case, you might consider giving that employee a raise up to $60,000 to ensure they aren’t toeing the line of compliance and that they’re clearly not subject to overtime. An attorney can help you make these decisions along the way.

3. Evaluate the Budgetary Implications

Whether you’re giving employees raises to get them above the overtime threshold or you’re planning to pay overtime when the time comes, your budget will definitely be impacted. Get the important stakeholders together, which may include your accountant, HR director, chief financial officer, partners, practice manager and anyone else who handles money. Discuss how the changes will impact your budget and, if necessary, identify cuts you can make elsewhere to ensure you’ll be able to afford the new payment amounts.

4. Create a Timeline Backwards From Go-Live

Once you know the date you plan to have all of the budgetary plans in place, you can work backward from there to ensure you have all the most appropriate action steps in place. Create a timeline showing what you need to do by which date so your systems are all completely prepared before the changes take effect.

5. Plan Your Communication Strategy

Because some of your staff members will be impacted by these changes, you’ll need to plan out your staff communication to ensure a smooth transition, reduce the impact to morale and pave a line of communication for any concerns.

The new overtime rule will affect every aspect of your HR operations. Let attorney Ariel Fenster, Esq.

Walk you through the regulations during her latest online training, Comply w/Recently Released Changes to Overtime Pay Rules. Register today!


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