What is a salaried employee, the latest relevant changes in legislation, payroll services for calculating work hours, and interesting facts about salary vs. hourly pay?
The Fair Labor Standards Act defines a salaried employee as someone who’s paid a salary, or set amount of compensation, on a fixed basis. A minimum amount of compensation is guaranteed for any given period in which they’ve done work. Most businesses determine an annual amount and divide that equally across pay periods.
The above law classifies workers as exempt or nonexempt. Depending on how they are paid, how often, and the type of work they do, exempt employees are not entitled to overtime pay or minimum wage. Salaried employees may qualify as nonexempt and still have the right to receive overtime pay and a minimum wage.
The benefits of payroll services
Payroll services use automated systems to track work hours, reducing the likelihood of human error in manual calculations. In 2023, the average payroll error rate for companies across industries was 1.2% per pay period. There are twice as many payroll errors in in-house payroll solutions than in third-party solutions (11.4% vs. 6.1%). Payroll apps help make sure that employees are paid fairly for the time they’ve worked.
Automated payroll systems can streamline the process of tracking work hours, reducing the time and effort required for payroll administration. This gives HR staff more time to focus on other essential tasks.
These systems stay current on labor laws and regulations, which means your business will always be compliant with relevant legislation regarding overtime, minimum wage, and other wage-related regulations.
The best payroll services have portals where employees can see their work hours, access pay stubs, and request time off. This empowers them to manage certain aspects of their employment independently, reducing the administrative burden.
25% of small businesses still track finances on pen and paper, increasing stress. Payroll services allow users to create reports automatically on various aspects of employee hours worked. These reports can be valuable for analyzing labor costs, tracking trends, and making informed business decisions.
Finally, many services integrate seamlessly with other HR and accounting software, simplifying data exchange between different systems and reducing the risk of data entry errors. Integration can help with taxes and bookkeeping, which are the most time-consuming and unpleasant parts of owning a business, according to 40% of small business owners.
Legislative changes in April 2024
Under a new provision approved by the US Department of Labor on April 23, 2024, roughly four million more salaried workers will be eligible for overtime pay. Starting July 1, the salary limit will increase to $844 a week or an annual salary of $43,888. On January 1 next year, this will increase to $1,128 a week or $58,656 a year.
In its first year of legal effectiveness, the provision is anticipated to result in the transfer of about $1.5 billion from organizations to employees, mainly from pay raises or new overtime premiums.
Salaried vs. hourly employees
Who’s in a better position: salaried employees or hourly workers? According to data from the 2023 US Labor Department, there are 82.3 million hourly workers – the majority of employees in the US. Full-time salaried workers comprise 41.9% of the total.
Hourly workers get paid for every hour they work. They have the right to receive overtime and minimum wage, which puts them in a better position than salaried employees. They are not always eligible for healthcare benefits, though. They are also more vulnerable to drops in demand for their skills. Still, according to a recent survey, roughly 86% of private-sector hourly workers’ employers provided health insurance.
FAQ
Why is it important to set work hour boundaries?
Having good work hour boundaries is very important for productivity. What’s more, it is a type of self-care. It improves mental health, and 84% of employees had one or more mental health challenges between February 2023 and February 2024. Mental health issues cost the global economy one trillion dollars a year.
How do you determine work-hour boundaries?
You can set work hour boundaries in the following ways, not necessarily in that order:
- Set priorities
- Understand the workload
- Delegate tasks
- Communicate
- Establish a clear schedule
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