Question

Jane Swift is becoming frustrated with her job as a shift leader at Jones Department Store. She’s worked
there for 6 months, and the full-time job has turned into more than full time. Several associates have left
the store, and as a result, the past several weeks she has worked 45–50 hours each week. She doesn’t mind
working the extra hours; she is just frustrated because she is not getting paid overtime pay.
She asked the store manager, Amy Kostner, about the overtime pay she was due. Amy informed
Jane that shift leaders are part of the management team and are classified as exempt under the Fair Labor
Standards Act. The store is not required to pay exempt workers overtime pay.
Jane agrees that she is part of the management team. As a shift leader, Jane runs the floor when she is
on duty. One of the assistant managers sets the daily schedule of associates each week, but Jane and other
shift leaders assign the associates to various work areas as needed. Depending on store traffic, associates
need to be moved from stocking shelves and cleaning to cashiering or assisting customers. When not working
on such management responsibilities, the shift leaders generally assume the duties of associates by
assisting customers and cashiering. Jane reports that she typically spends only a little more than half of her
time performing associate duties.
Shift leaders are also involved in managerial decisions. For example, they often sit in on employment
interviews and typically are aware of employee terminations before the employee is fired. They also give
feedback about the associates to the assistant managers who write the annual performance appraisals.
Just like a manager, Jane makes a lot of decisions during the course of her shift each day. If there is a
dispute on a sale price, Jane searches the weekly sales flyer to determine the correct price. If a customer
has a return, Jane reviews the transaction and initials it before the cashier can give a refund. However, she
does not have complete autonomy in making decisions. For example, if a return is greater than $50.00, an
assistant manager or the store manager needs to approve the refund.
But even though she agrees that she is part of the management team, Jane isn’t satisfied with Amy’s
answer on her question about pay. If she isn’t eligible for overtime pay, she thinks that she should be paid
more. While she is paid at a higher rate than most of the associates, she is not paid nearly as much as the
assistant managers. A pay increase or overtime pay would at least make it worthwhile for her to put in the
extra hours.

What steps would an HR department need to have taken to ensure they were compliant with the new laws?

Answer 1

The case clearly states that Jane is a part of management team and management teams should not be paid extra for over time. However, Jane was performing her duties on floor as well whenever the need arised. She even performed work like stocking shelves or cleaning to cashering. She was also performing management like work like handling dispute on sales price etc, handling returns to customers though with management approval. This indicates that she was performing management like work plus the work of floor as well.

Ideally, she should  be paid for her over time looking at the nature of her work as per Over time pay under fair labor standard act as she was performing on floor as well. If over time was not paid to her, on ethical grounds, her salary should be increased to cover the work done by her. This will remove frustration of Jane and will motivate her work harder and more in the Department Store.