Jeffrey H. Ruzal, a Senior Counsel in the Employment, Labor & Workforce Management practice, in the firm’s New York office, was featured in CureMD Insights, in a Q&A article titled “New Over-Time Rule for Medical Practices.”
Following is an excerpt:
CureMD: Does this rule apply to everyone?
Jeff: Yes, this rule applies to everyone engaged in an employer-employee relationship. Neither the Rule nor any other requirement pursuant to the Fair Labor Standards Act would apply to workers engaged as bona fide independent contractors who are not employed as employees of an employer. Employers should take heed, however, that the U.S. Department of Labor takes the position that most workers are employees and not independent contractors. In other words, employers should not arbitrarily classify its employees as “independent contractors,” as this would likely result in a misclassification of the employee.
CureMD: What will be the biggest challenge for medical professionals?
Jeff: Conducting an audit of the workforce and determining what changes must be made in light of the new requirements.
With the doubling of salary exemption threshold for executive and administrative professionals, practice owners will need to consider whether it makes good financial sense to increase an employee’s salary to maintain the exemption. The alternative, which many employers are considering, is to reclassify employees presently classified as exempt to non-exempt, continue to pay a salary or comparable hourly wage, and then pay time and one-half when overtime hours are worked. Employers can control their expenses by creating strict workplace policies regarding overtime, such as required authorization, or capping overtime at a certain number of hours over 40 in each work week.
