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8.28.23

Green Energy Tax Credits Can Be Beneficial for Nonprofit Organizations

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), signed into law in August 2022, is one of the most expansive measures addressing energy efficiency and green technology in the…

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8.28.23

Nonprofits: Four Signs That Something May Be Awry

Many nonprofit leaders are nervously watching macroeconomic signs — inflation, rising interest rates and the possibility of recession — to predict how their organization will…

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8.28.23

Special Fundraising Events Call for Tax Planning

Tax reporting may be the last thing on your mind when planning a special fundraising event. But your nonprofit should carefully track revenues and expenses…

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8.28.23

Why Nonprofits Need to Track Staffers’ Time

Nonprofit organizations are compelled by federal and state wage-and-hours laws to perform a certain amount of time tracking. Funders may also stipulate timekeeping practices. Fortunately,…

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Headshot of Victor W. Vaccaro, Jr. CPA/ABV, CFF, CDA Partner-in-Charge of Assurance Services
8.28.23

Is Your CPA an Expert in Manufacturing?

Manufacturing has long been the backbone of our economy. As a result, nearly every CPA firm works with at least some manufacturing clients. However, many…

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8.28.23

Successfully Navigating the Shift To Reshoring Manufacturing Production Can Be Tricky

For decades, products that were made in America were synonymous with high quality and were manufactured in great abundance. Comparable products from other countries were…

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8.28.23

Can Your Manufacturing Company Benefit From ESG Initiatives?

In today’s highly competitive market, manufacturers may want to consider adopting environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives. While doing good may be its own reward,…

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The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently announced that a jury in a landmark case, Walsh v. East Penn Manufacturing Co, Inc., DC-PA, has awarded more than $22 million in back wages to about 7,500 employees of a battery manufacturer. The award marks the largest recorded verdict ever under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Further, the DOL, which brought the lawsuit, plans to request an equal amount in liquidated damages and an injunction requiring future FLSA compliance by the manufacturer. The jury found that the manufacturer was required to pay affected workers for all of their working time — including the actual additional time needed to put on and remove protective equipment and to shower to avoid the dangers of lead exposure and other hazards — resulting in overtime violations. This case should act as a wake-up call for all manufacturers to pay close attention to FLSA rules and regulations concerning tracking time and pay. FLSA Pay Regs Explained Under the FLSA, employees must be paid an overtime rate of one and a half times their regular pay rate for time worked above 40 hours a week, unless specific exemptions exist. FLSA exemptions exclude certain executives, administrative and professional (EAP) employees; outside salespeople; and computer employees from the federal overtime rules. What constitutes hours worked under the FLSA? “Workday,” in general, means the period between the time on any particular day when employees commence their “principal activities” and the time at which they cease such activities. Principal activities are those that employees are employed to perform, such as the work manufacturing employees perform during their shift on the manufacturing floor — and those hours must be compensated. But employees must also be compensated for all activities that are essential to performing their principal activities, even if the activities are performed before employees begin, or after they end, their principal work activities. The workday may, therefore, be longer than employees’ scheduled shifts, hours, tours of duty, or production line time. For example, if employees in a chemical plant cannot perform their principal activities without putting on certain clothes, then changing clothes on the employer’s premises at the beginning and end of the workday would be essential to performing their principal activities. The time workers spend changing clothes would be part of the workday and they must be compensated. Facts of the Case The manufacturer, one of the largest battery producers in the world, maintained two sets of time records for its employees. The first was based on a card-scanning system requiring employees to swipe in no more than 14 minutes before a shift and swipe out no more than 14 minutes after a shift. The other set of “adjusted” records didn’t reflect the 14-minute rule before and after shifts. The manufacturer paid its employees based on the adjusted time records, without taking the 14-minute rule into account, even though it was aware that more time was needed for pre- and post-shift activities. In response to an employee’s complaint, the employer adjusted its policy, providing a five-minute grace period before a shift to change into uniforms and additional time for cleaning up after a shift, when approved by a manager. Also, the employer granted employees 10 minutes for shower time after their shifts. The parties didn’t dispute that the activities before and after employees’ eight-hour shifts were “integral and indispensable.” However, they disagreed about the measuring stick used for this compensable time. The key difference between the parties: The DOL argued that the employer should record the actual time it takes for workers to put on and take off their protective uniforms. Conversely, the employer asserted that it’s required to pay employees only for the “reasonable time” to complete those tasks and that the 15 minutes for pre-shift activity and 10 minutes for post-shift activity is sufficient. In the end, the manufacturer couldn’t persuade the court. The court confirmed that the appropriate method for measuring compensable time is based on the continuous workday rule, whereby employees are compensated for all time spent during the continuous workday. The court saw no binding legal precedence for using a “reasonable” amount of time. Moreover, the court indicated that the “reasonable” time standard was used only for calculating back-pay damages and not for regular pay. So, it agreed with the DOL’s position that compensation should be based on the actual time spent on the activities — not a “reasonable” amount of time. Besides siding with the employees on overtime pay, the court found that the manufacturer violated FLSA recordkeeping provisions. The reason: The manufacturer openly admitted it didn’t record the actual time spent on pre- and post-shift activities. Learn From Others' Mistakes This case is a cautionary tale for manufacturing companies in similar circumstances. Be sure to accurately track the work hours of employees according to the FLSA and other prevailing laws and regulations — and to pay them for the tracked time.
8.28.23

Jury Awards More Than $22 Million in Back Pay to Manufacturing Employees

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently announced that a jury in a landmark case, Walsh v. East Penn Manufacturing Co, Inc., DC-PA, has awarded…

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8.16.23

The IRS Warns Businesses About ERTC Scams

The airwaves and internet are inundated these days with advertisements claiming that businesses are missing out on the lucrative Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC). While…

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8.14.23

Planning Ahead for 2024: Should Your 401(K) Help Employees With Emergencies?

The SECURE 2.0 law, which was enacted last year, contains wide-ranging changes to retirement plans. One provision in the law is that eligible employers will…

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