Year-End Expense Reports and How to Curb Employee ‘Creativity’
Date Posted: December 23, 2015
Posted In: Ideas,
From BuiltWorlds: Construction continues to be a mobile industry, which means we all deal with travel expenses. So check out some of these best practices when handling certain expenses to make sure that you are doing everything “by the book”.
Creativity in construction is plentiful, and nowhere is it more evident than in payroll practices. The recent U.S. Dept. of Labor (DOL) crackdown on companies paying per diem in lieu of wages, highlighted the not-so-positive side of that creativity. But, per diem, when done right, helps employees cover the costs of travel they do while working, and benefits companies by reducing costs and streamlining complex processes.
Earlier this year, DOL discovered that some staffing agencies supplying labor to construction firms were avoiding overtime payments by paying per diem in place of regular wages. Now, more than 3,000 employees are getting almost $3.5 million disbursed in back wages from those staffing companies. Liability extends to staffing agency clients if it’s determined that the workers are “jointly employed”.
But there is no easy or fast way to determine the above, which has caused several states to pass legislation clarifying the relationships. In general, your company can become a joint employer if it has “direct and immediate control” over another company’s employees. The final decision is up to the courts, but in disputes (so far), the rulings have said staffing agencies are joint employers with their clients. As always, the best defense is a good offense, which means properly vetting your staffing agency, and knowing how it is paying the employees it provides to you.