Wage and Hour Compliance Challenges From the Increased Use of Technology in the Workplace

This CLE course will examine the myriad ways in which the increased use of technology in the workplace by employers and employees has heightened employers’ risks of violating wage and hour laws, particularly as it relates to non-exempt employees. The panel will outline practical strategies for employers to reduce legal exposure.

The growing use of technology in the workforce has increased employers’ risk of wage and hour noncompliance. Many of these risks relate to non-exempt employees who are eligible for minimum wage and overtime, but technology has also made wage and hour compliance more challenging as it relates to exempt employees.

The core issue in most disputes involving the intersection of technology and wage and hour law is defining whether technology-related activity, such as responding to work emails, constitutes “work.” Many courts have ruled that responding to emails fits the definition of work; however, the activity may or may not be compensable work time under the “de minimis rule.”

Areas in which technology can result in unforeseen wage and hour liability exposure include the performance of “hidden work” that the employer knew or should have known about; the use of digital technology and sophisticated scheduling software to create “on-call” and “call-in” scheduling systems; automatic meal deduction systems; the replacement of the exercise of “discretion and independent judgment” by computers for FLSA exempt administrative employees; and more.

Employers should take proactive steps to reduce liability exposure for technology-driven risks, including requiring employees to record all hours worked, wherever they are performed; prohibiting non-exempt employees from performing work outside of the office; providing smartphones to exempt employees only, and/or configuring computer systems to prohibit out-of-office access by non-exempt employees.

Listen as our authoritative panel of employment counsel discusses new and evolving wage and hour compliance risks triggered by the increased use of technology in the workplace and best practices to manage these risks.