The topic of Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) overtime violations came up several times during last week's Employment Law Symposium, hosted by the Mid-Cities Human Resources Association and sponsored by Imperative Information Group.

As this bizjournals.com article suggests, many employers don't understand all of the variables in calculating overtime, particularly in relation to bonuses. The small business in the article was sued for overtime violations by three employees after paying their employees a bonus for doing a good job. The employees alleged that the bonus increased their regular rate of pay and sued for the additional overtime due them for the period covered by the bonus. The business owners spent $400,000 defending the lawsuit before settling.

"The difference between the amount actually paid and the higher rate was trivial, but all the fees made it an exorbitant amount," said one of the owners.

Under the FLSA, non-discretionary bonuses such as might be paid out in pay-for-performance plans, change an employee's "regular rate" of pay retroactively. So, that $2,000 year-end bonus for meeting performance objectives may adjust the regular rate of pay for a full-time employee who worked 150 hours overtime during the year by 89¢ ($2,000 / 2,230 regular and overtime hours).

So, the employer is liable to the employee for one-half of the extra 89¢ for each overtime hour worked for a total of $133.50.

[NOTE: I had to double check my process with the DOL's website. Initially, I only applied the bonus to the hours that were regularly scheduled (assuming 40 hours per week), which resulted in a slightly higher "regular rate" and a higher overtime rate. I believe some states' own wage and hour laws may calculate bonus overtime this way.]

Performance-based bonuses are probably still preferable to many other compensation schemes in a tight economy, but employers need to plan ahead to make sure they don't have to defend a lawsuit next year due to the impact of this year's bonus.

Last Wednesday, I attended the DFW SMA’s Diversity Strategies panel discussion at the Gaylord Texan Resort in Grapevine. The group of five panelists not only represented a variety of perspectives, but brought a lot of value and insight to the table. Here’s a run down of the panel:

• Melissa Wallace, Manager of Diversity Strategies for American Airlines
• Elizabeth Otenaike, Diversity and Inclusion/Change Strategist for Lockheed Martin
• Gracie Vega, Vice President HR for Gaylord Texan Resort 
• Sherri Elliott, President of Gen InsYght and Author of Ties to Tattoos
• Nancy Ruth, Program Manager for Cultural Awareness International

Generally, diversity and inclusion are topics that can begin to sound redundant to employers and employees alike, but I found the contributions from these five professionals refreshing. During the discussion, they covered several topics including the scope of diversity, recruiting, and understanding diversity as a competitive advantage within an organization. As far as diversity goes, many of us have mastered "talking the talk", but how many companies actually "walk the walk"?

Recruiting strategies can have both a positive and negative impact on an organization, and implementing methods that take diversity into account doesn’t necessarily translate into race and gender considerations, according to Sherri Elliott. When asked how an organization can recruit and attract a diverse set of employees, she emphasized that although there are many factors to consider in the process, age and generational differences must be thoroughly understood.

Understanding the nature and impact of these generational differences may be to an organization’s advantage, particularly in times of economic distress when keeping valuable employees involved is crucial. Today, for example, more “Gen Yers” place more value on contributing worth to a company as opposed to reaping monetary benefits. 

Another, perhaps more prevalent, diversity issue was touched on frequently throughout the discussion--differences in values, nationalities and backgrounds. From an HR standpoint, it is not enough anymore to ensure your workforce is diverse. In fact, this reality often creates unintended and completely avoidable problems that affect productivity and profitability within a company. 

For example, Nancy Ruth, the program manager for Cultural Awareness International, cited a particular cross cultural conference call she encountered that underlined the consequences that can arise from not familiarizing oneself with cultural differences. This particular discussion, like so many others, faltered because of a lack of awareness--something organizations can help prevent by implementing the right programs and asking the right questions.

Perhaps the main send home in this entire panel discussion was that organizations and all individuals involved in running them must understand the intrinsic value and competitive advantage diversity provides. Greater success lies not only in the recognition of a problem, but also in the assessment of solutions. 

As Nancy Ruth put it:

“We tend to give platitudes for being diverse, but leave that value of it on the table... find the value that the diverse workforce brings.”

In summary, simply ensuring you have a diverse workforce is not enough. Effective articulation of goals, self benchmarking and assessing and initiatives by all levels of management to ensure understanding among employees and employers is the cornerstone of today’s more productive and profitable organization. It’s not only an opportunity to strengthen and establish commitment and security. It’s a business case for diversity.

For a  more in depth look at this subject, check out Mike's podcast interview about workplace diversity with Scott Airitam of Leadership Systems.

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Despite all the talk of HR's "seat at the table," in many organizations, HR is still a paper-pushing function. In others, we're the equivalent of Dr. No. Is it any wonder that HR is still not seen as a partner in many companies?

In this much-delayed edition of The Imperative Podcast, I interview Lisa Autry. Lisa is an employment law attorney and consultant who was actually in HR before she sold out and went to law school. She's got some great things to say about how HR has contributed to the sometimes negative perceptions opertions managers have toward us and how we can change them - especially when economic times are tough.

Lisa will be the speaker at the April 1st Mid-Cities HR Association Meeting.

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Like every other department, human resources managers are being asked to measure the effectiveness of their activities and report their impact on the organization's bottom line.

Most HR professionals are familiar with measurements like cost per hire and HR expense as percentage of company revenue. But do those kinds of measurements really reflect HR's contribution? How do you really measure HR - particularly as HR moves from a strictly transactional function to a consultative business partner?

Our guest today on The Imperative Podcast is Dr. George Benson. Dr. Benson is an Associate Professor of Management at the University of Texas at Arlington. He is also an affiliated researcher with the Center for Effective Organizations at USC. Dr. Benson has a Masters in Public Policy from Georgetown University and a Ph.D. in Business Administration from USC. Dr. Benson's research and writing has focused on a variety of HR issues.

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In this episode of The Imperative Podcast, Mike interviews Dr. Lee Colan, a researcher and business consultant, and author of nine books including 7 Moments That Define Excellent Leaders and Engaging the Hearts and Minds of All Your Employees: How to Ignite Passionate Performance for Better Business Results.

His best selling book is entitled Sticking to It: The Art of Adherence, which will be the topic of his presentation at the February 4th Mid-Cities HR Association luncheon meeting.

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On January 30th, the Mid-Cities HR Association in cooperation with the Fort Worth HR Management Association and North Texas SHRM, will present their second annual Employment Law Symposium titled "What You Need to Know Under the New Administration." Imperative is a proud sponsor of this event again this year.

In this podcast, Mike interviews Michael Layman, the keynote speaker for the symposium. Michael is the Manager of Employment and Labor Legislation for the Society for Human Resources Management and he will be discussing the many federal public policy issues expected to impact human resources professionals in the coming year.

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This week's podcast features Mike's interview of Diana Meisenhelter of Riviera Advisors, a human resource consulting firm. 

Diana has over 20 years experience in corporate staffing and recruiting.  Prior to her role at Riviera Advisors, Diana held the position of Vice President of Staffing and Talent Acquisition for Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, and prior to that she was Director of Worldwide Recruitment for Westin Hotels & Resorts.  Additionally, Diana is on the board of directors for the DFW Staffing Management Association.

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In this edition of the Imperative Podcast, Mike Coffey interviews Lon Williams, who will be speaking at the September 3rd MidCities Human Resources Association luncheon meeting.