Company ‘banked’ hours to pay at later date, now owes $104K in OT Paid workers for additional time at their regular rates Sometimes, if work comes in waves, a company may want to help workers out by allowing them to “bank” extra hours in a workweek, applying them to a future pay period when work is sparse. While this may seem like a nice gesture to keep workers’ paychecks from being short, it also runs afoul of labor laws. While this may seem like a nice gesture to keep workers’ paychecks from being short, it also runs afoul of labor laws. One California employer with this policy now owes back wages to several employees after the Dept. of Labor investigated its pay practices. Pacific Custom Pools Inc. would hold employees’ hours if they worked more than 40 hours in a workweek. Then, the company would pay workers the hours at straight-time rates during later weeks when they either worked fewer than 40 hours or requested the pay for their banked hours in a lump sum. Because workers weren’t given the overtime pay they should’ve received, Pacific Custom Pools must now pay $104,739 to 13 employees. Handling Comp time Under the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, banking excess hours worked for nonexempt employees as comp time or paying them as the regular rate on future paychecks isn’t allowed. They must always be paid one-and-a-half times their regular rate for any hours worked over 40 in a workweek. In certain sectors, such as in state and local government, employees may be eligible to earn comp time, as long as it’s agreed upon in advance. More info: bit.ly/bank567