Article

Harris Poll forewarns of potential upheaval due to upcoming OT regulation

Americans have a hard time putting work away. In a new Harris Poll, most said it's at least partly because they have too much to do to in an eight-hour day.

June 21, 2016 by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group

Americans have a hard time putting work away. For most, that's at least partly because they simply have too much work to fit into an eight-hour day.

This is among the primary findings of a survey conducted by Harris Poll in the months leading up to the Dec. 1 activation of new overtime regulations. The study was commissioned by the Workforce Institute at Kronos Inc. to reveal any "unintended consequences of the regulation" according to a news release.

This spring the current administration updated the Fair Labor Standards Act in response to indications that many American workers are paid a relatively low salary rather than an hourly wage for jobs that require more than 40 hours weekly.

Labor advocates say that some employers do this in order to avoid paying the overtime that would be incurred if these individuals were hourly workers. Salaried workers typically do not punch a time clock to record hours, nor are they typically paid for time worked over and above 40 hours weekly.

The updated FLSA provisions are meant to level the playing field for employees with respect to compensation for hours worked.

Under the new regulations, any salaried position must pay a minimum annual income of $47,476 if the job requires overtime hours. Any position paid less than this would have to be converted to an hourly wage and paid overtime after reaching the 40-hour weekly limit.

"Updating the FLSA's so-called white collar overtime provision represents the most significant change to workplace wage and hour regulation in more than a generation," said Joyce Maroney, director of the Workforce Institute at Kronos. "The fact that 63 percent of salaried workers who participated in our survey admitted that they would still work after hours even if it were against company policy goes to show how ingrained this practice is in today's professional culture."

For the most part, business leaders across the nation have responded to the new rule with consternation and opposition. This is certainly the case in foodservice.

Many in the industry have said they will have to cut back elsewhere in order to pay the higher salaries or — if they convert salaried positions to hourly wages — additional compensation for overtime hours.

Particularly in the quick service restaurant sector, some chains have said the changes might force them to increase prices, cut workers, or make other money-saving moves to afford the additional worker compensation.

We're obsessed with our jobs and will work overtime

A primary finding of the survey was that most fulltime salaried employees in the U.S. would work off the clock even if it were against company policy. Of the salaried workers polled, 81 percent said they work outside of their standard work hours more than once a week.

About 29 percent admitted to putting in extra hours three or more days weekly, while 16 percent admitted to working extra hours five to seven days each week.

One-fourth of the salaried workers polled said they only work extra hours less than once a week. About one-fifth said they never do.

Will we work less under the new law?

Probably not, according to 63 percent of fulltime salaried employees polled, who said they would work overtime even if it were against company policy.

These employees said that they have too much work on their proverbial plate to avoid putting in more than an eight-hour day.

Reasons cited for extra work hours included:

• heavier workload (40 percent);
• deadline demands (37 percent);
• too much work (31 percent);
• flexible work hours (27 percent);
• need to complete duties (17 percent); and
• need to stay organized (15 percent).

The trials of tracking employee hours

Under the updated FLSA rule, any fulltime salaried worker paid less than $47,476 will be eligible for overtime pay for working more than 40 hours weekly.

The study found that in complying with the new rule employers could face challenges that include training employees to track their hours and implementing systems to do this efficiently.

These new considerations are particularly daunting when you consider the numbers of employees involved. According to the Harris Poll findings:

• currently, 2 of every 5 salaried employees do not track or report time worked;
• only 4 percent of those who do track hours use mobile applications; most track via a computer program or paper time sheets (only 4 percent).

Why we work so much

Mobile phones are a blessing and a curse when it comes to the amount of time we put in at work, according to the poll results. In fact, most salaried employees who work time outside of the 40-hour week, cite technology as one of the reasons, including:

• text messaging for business outside of work hours (23 percent);
• after-hours emails sent and received (55 percent); and
• additional phone calls needed (24 percent).

Nonetheless, it appears that some of those tasks are being performed outside of office hours simply because we've come to see them as not being work.

For instance, 18 percent of respondents said they don't consider sending or receiving texts to be work, while 17 percent don't consider sending or receiving emails to be work. However, only 10 percent thought phone calls outside of office hours did not qualify as working.

A 40-hour work week is possible, but ...

Despite the tyranny of tech, most of those polled thought they could return to a 40-hour work week if their employers made some changes. Of fulltime salaried employees polled, 70 percent said they could do it if their employer helped in one or more of the following ways:

• institute flexible start and end times for work days (30 percent);
• hold fewer meetings (27 percent);
• streamline workflows (25 percent);
• hire additional employees (24 percent);
• redistribute duties (22 percent);
• allow employees more autonomy to get things done (20 percent); and
• make meetings  shorter (18 percent).

"Organizations who wish to be compliant come Dec. 1, must be proactive in developing policies and procedures that leverage modern technology to ensure people are paid fairly for their hours worked and provide a defensible audit trail for both the employee and employer in the event of a complaint," Maroney said. "FLSA is poised to fundamentally change how — and when — salaried employees can get their work done. Managers should be open and transparent about what is changing, why it is changing, and what it means for all employees to ensure confusion does not undermine engagement."

About the survey and findings:The Harris Poll surveyed 2,023 U.S. adults ages 18 and older May 25–27. Of those polled, 845 worked either full- or part-time and 354 said they were salaried employees. The online survey was not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error could be calculated. 

About S.A. Whitehead

---

Pizza Marketplace and QSRweb editor Shelly Whitehead is a former newspaper and TV reporter with an affinity for telling stories about the people and innovative thinking behind great brands.