Productivity mandates,
reductions in workforces and
cross-training initiatives often create unintended consequences. Recently, a plant manager told me he couldn’t afford to lose production time for training and could not afford to pay overtime. Another told me that paying his people to train when others at the plant were getting laid off would send the wrong message. In both cases, I recommended they offer a voluntary training program “off the clock” – taken on the employees’ own time.
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) has been striking fear in the hearts of managers for 71 years, thanks to some hefty fines and legal judgments levied upon corporate wrongdoers. It has also spawned a number of state laws, union work rules and, unfortunately, several common misconceptions. Here’s the good news:
Attendance at training or educational programs normally is not considered working time and therefore does not have to be compensated if:
- Training is outside the employee’s regular work hours
- Participation is voluntary
- The employee does no productive work while training, and
- The program is not directly related to the employee’s job. If an employee on his own initiative attends an educational program, the time is not considered hours worked even if the program is related to the job.
If you would like to read the exact wording in the Dept. of Labor documents without wading through the whole book, see below. Remember that only a small portion of the FLSA, which established a minimum wage and regulated important issues such as child labor and unpaid overtime, deals with training issues.
You may, however, live in a state with stricter regulations. To the best of my knowledge, all states allow training as long as it is voluntary and does not constitute productive work. But I’m no
lawyer and you’ll sleep better if you ask one to verify the standards in your location.
If you would like to become more versed in the intricacies of the FLSA as it relates to training, I recommend an online class offered by a distance-learning colleague:
The Human Equation.
What about the union?
ToolingU was recently written into a collective bargaining agreement with an automotive manufacturer where union leaders embraced the voluntary initiative to learn new skills on their own time. Management responded by providing a wage incentive plan tied to the successful completion of Toolingu.com classes and arranged into three levels of accomplishment.
Another Toolingu.com customer has a strict policy of paying employees for training time. However, the company negotiated a union concession to have training hours paid in “straight time” rather than “time-and-a-half,” even though the training time is performed in addition to the work week’s 40 hours.
There’s a growing recognition on the part of both labor and management that some of the decades-old work rules do not necessarily apply to the modern manufacturing environment. Communications and openness to new ideas are benefitting all concerned to make these companies more competitive.
Senior Client Executive
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CHAPTER V—WAGE AND HOUR DIVISION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
PART 785--HOURS WORKED
§ 785.29 Training directly related to employee’s job
…Where a training course is instituted for the bona fide purpose of preparing for advancement through upgrading the employee to a higher skill, and is not intended to make the employee more efficient in his present job, the training is not considered directly related to the employee’s job even though the course incidentally improves his skill in doing his regular work..”
§ 785.30 Independent training.
Of course, if an employee on his own initiative attends an independent school, college or independent trade school after hours, the time is not hours worked for his employer even if the courses are related to his job.
§ 785.31 Special situations.
There are some special situations where the time spent in attending lectures, training sessions and courses of instruction is not regarded as hours worked. For example, an employer may establish for the benefit of his employees a program of instruction which corresponds to courses offered by independent bona fide institutions of learning. Voluntary attendance by an employee at such courses outside of working hours would not be hours worked even if they are directly related to his job, or paid for by the employer.
§ 785.32 Apprenticeship training.
As an enforcement policy, time spent in an organized program of related, supplemental instruction by employees working under bona fide apprenticeship programs may be excluded from working time if the following criteria are met:
(a) The apprentice is employed under a written apprenticeship agreement or program which substantially meets the fundamental standards of the Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training of the U.S. Department of Labor; and
(b) Such time does not involve productive work or performance of the apprentice’s regular duties. If the above criteria are met the time spent in such related supplemental training shall not be counted as hours worked unless the written agreement specifically provides that it is hours worked. The mere payment or agreement to pay for time spent in related instruction does not constitute an agreement that such time is hours worked.
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