Reprinted with permission from the January 18, 2018 issue of The Legal Intelligencer. (c) 2018 ALM Media Properties. Further duplication without permission is prohibited.

In a recent decision, the Pennsylvania Superior Court complicated the already tricky business of paying nonexempt employees on an hourly basis for Pennsylvania employers.  In Chevalier v. Hiller, the Court found that a “fluctuating workweek” overtime calculation method, approved by federal regulation, violates Pennsylvania’s Minimum Wage Act, 43 P.S. §333.101  et seq. (“PMWA”).  The Superior Court reversed the trial court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the employees, in a comprehensive opinion that requires Pennsylvania employers to review carefully their overtime calculation methods.

The employees in this case were managers at various levels for GNC.  GNC calculated their overtime pay using the “fluctuating work week method.”  Under this method, in an example provided by the Superior Court, overtime was calculated as follows:  employees were paid $1000 a week regardless of the number of hours worked in a week.  In one week, the example goes, the employee worked 50 hours.  GNC thus calculated the employees “regular rate” at $20 an hour.  GNC then paid the employee an additional $10 an hour for the ten hours over 40, resulting in $1100 in wages for the 50 hour week.

The employees argued that this method was improper under the PMWA, and the trial court agreed.  The trial court opined that the rate instead should have been calculated using the “forty hour” method.   Under this method, the regular rate is determined by dividing the weekly salary of $1000 by forty hours, to produce a rate of $25 an hour.  Then, the additional ten hours over forty worked should have been paid at time and a half for an additional $375, resulting in $1375 in wages for the 50 hour week. Notably, had the Superior Court agreed with the trial court, the cost of paying nonexempt employees on a salary basis would have increased exponentially. 

Instead, the Superior Court disagreed with the trial court and found that the regular rate was properly calculated using the “fluctuating workweek method,” that is, that the employer’s calculation of the regular rate by dividing the employee’s salary in a given week by the number of hours the employee actually worked did not violate the PMWA. 

However, the Superior Court found that GNC’s method of paying for the overtime hours violated the PMWA.  The Superior Court found that PMWA required the payment of an overtime premium of 1 and ½ times the employee’s regular rate for all hours in excess of forty in a work week.  Accordingly, using  the fifty hour example set forth above, that employee should have received $200 in overtime. 

The Superior Court began its analysis by noting the purpose of the PMWA, which mirrors the language of the FLSA, “to protect employees who do not have real bargaining power.”  The Court noted that no Pennsylvania appellate court had evaluated the propriety of the fluctuating workweek method under the PMWA, but that some federal courts had addressed the PMWA’s overtime requirements.  In those cases, the federal courts agreed with the conclusion of the Superior Court regarding the premium due, but did not address the appropriate method for calculating the regular rate. 

The Superior  Court’s holding imposes a different requirement than the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.  Under the FLSA, and cases interpreting it, an employer is free to use the fluctuating work week method, and to pay a premium of one-half the hourly rate for hours over forty in a workweek, on the theory that the regular rate for those hours is captured in the salary.  While the Superior Court found that the PMWA permitted a calculation of the regular rate, consistent with the FLSA, using the fluctuating workweek method, the Superior Court found that Pennsylvania law would not permit a premium of only ½ that regular rate.

Instead, the Superior Court found that the applicable regulations required the payment of one and one-half times the regular rate for hours over forty in a workweek. The applicable regulations require that “each employee shall be paid for overtime not less than 1-1/2 times the employee’s regular rate of pay for all hours in excess of 40 hours in a work week.”  24 Pa. Code § 231.41.    The regulations do permit the payment of half the regular rate only for employees who are paid a flat sum for a day’s work.  34 Pa. Code § 231.43(b).  Finally, another regulation permits employer and employee to come to an agreement as to the “basis rate” for payment of work in excess of the maximum workweek, but only if the employer uses a multiplier of one and one-half.  In other words, the Superior Court found, in all instances where the regulations address the appropriate multiplier, the regulations required the payment of one and one-half times the regular rate.  The Court pointed out that the Department of Labor did not adopt the federal regulation that expressly permits the payment of half the regular rate as the overtime premium, although it could have done so.  The Court found the decision not to adopt that federal regulation was a deliberate reflection of the purpose to protect employees.   

The Superior Court’s decision creates a dilemma for Pennsylvania employers using the fluctuating workweek method.  Pennsylvania employers currently paying an overtime premium of half the hourly rate for hours over forty in a workweek to nonexempt, salaried employees, are complying with federal, but not Pennsylvania law.  Employers will need to evaluate their overtime calculation policies and review whether paying nonexempt employees on a salary basis continues to make economic sense. 

Patricia Collins is a Partner with Antheil Maslow & MacMinn, LLP, based in Doylestown, PA. Her practice focuses primarily on employment, commercial litigation, and health care law. To learn more about the firm or Patricia Collins, visit www.ammlaw.com

Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), employers in “for-profit” enterprises are required to pay compensation to their employees, including a designated minimum wage and overtime pay.
An issue often faced by employers is whether an intern or student is actually an employee entitled to compensation, or whether the intern or student may work without receiving pay.

On January 5, 2018, the United States Department of Labor (“DOL”), which enforces the FLSA, announced in Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2018-2, that it was now going to follow the decision of several appellate courts in promulgating a new test for determining if an intern is actually an employee entitled to compensation.

Specifically, the DOL, announced that it would use the “primary beneficiary test” to determine the status of the would-be intern.  The test is intended to be flexible and allows courts or the DOL to review the “economic reality” of the relationship to determine which party, would-be intern or employer, is the primary beneficiary of the relationship.  

As part of the “primary beneficiary test”, the DOL adopted seven factors used by the courts:
1. The extent to which the intern and the employer clearly understand that there is no expectation of compensation. Any promise of compensation, express or implied, suggests that the intern is an employee—and vice versa.
2. The extent to which the internship provides training that would be similar to that which would be given in an educational environment, including the clinical and other hands-on training provided by educational institutions.
3. The extent to which the internship is tied to the intern’s formal education program by integrated coursework or the receipt of academic credit.
4. The extent to which the internship accommodates the intern’s academic commitments by corresponding to the academic calendar.
5. The extent to which the internship’s duration is limited to the period in which the internship provides the intern with beneficial learning.
6. The extent to which the intern’s work complements, rather than displaces, the work of paid employees while providing significant educational benefits to the intern.
7. The extent to which the intern and the employer understand that the internship is conducted without entitlement to a paid job at the conclusion of the internship.

The DOL  stated that no one factor is determinative of the issue and  that the ultimate classification of intern or employee “under the FLSA necessarily depends on the unique circumstances of each case”.
With respect to volunteers for governmental services and non-profits, the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor set forth the following in Fact Sheet No. 71:

“The FLSA exempts certain people who volunteer to perform services for a state or local government agency or who volunteer for humanitarian purposes for non-profit food banks.  WHD also recognizes an exception for individuals who volunteer their time, freely and without anticipation of compensation, for religious, charitable, civic, or humanitarian purposes to non-profit organizations.  Unpaid internships for public sector and non-profit charitable organizations, where the intern volunteers without expectation of compensation, are generally permissible.”

Employers who use interns should carefully review whether they are complying with the law.  AMM’s Employment Law attorneys can assist you with this and all compliance issues.  To learn more about Michael Klimpl, visit ammlaw.com. 

The Employment Law Department here at Antheil Maslow & MacMinn wishes a Happy New Year to all of our clients.  In the interest of making this year the best it can be, we offer the following New Year’s resolutions for employers:

1. Resolve to document:

Document everything: employee successes, employee’s failures to meet expectations, attendance, complaints, suggestions, and anything that may be of significance to the employee or the workplace.  This is good risk management for employers.  For employees, it is a fundamental aspect of workplace fairness, and prevents the situation where an employee may be caught off guard by a particular decision of the employer. 

A corollary to this resolution is to make documentation easy.  For example, managers can use email, which will include a date and time stamp, be maintained on company servers, and creates an electronic paper trail. Managers are more likely to comply with a simple system.

2. Resolve to retain key employees:

We spend much of our day talking about restrictive covenants – agreements not to compete or solicit customers and employees after the termination of employment.  We draft them, read them, counsel employees and employers about them.  While these agreements are important to protect the employer, they will not help employers keep their stars.  Instead, employers should ensure a positive workplace, where key employees know that they are appreciated.  Some ways to accomplish this:  fair compensation and benefit programs; attainable equity or bonus programs; realistic work-life balance policies; and recognition of employee successes.  It is also worthwhile to recognize that “stars” exist at every level in an organization:  the top salesperson and the reliable receptionist both contribute to the success of the business. 

3. Resolve to cultivate the culture:

This resolution will help with resolution 2, but is important in its own right.  How are managers communicating with employees?  Are they fair, professional and clear?  Are you looking the other way on unprofessional or inappropriate conduct?  Do you ever say “That’s just (insert name here)” about a particular manager? 

What we learned in 2017 is that it is folly to look the other way on a toxic workplace culture:  it wastes time, pulls focus from work, results in bad press and litigation, and chases away good employees. 
 
A focus on these three resolutions will help lower risk and ensure a compliance workplace.  Feel free to contact us to help accomplish these resolutions.

According to the National Center for Charitable Statistics (NCCS), more than 1.5 million nonprofit organizations are registered in the U.S.   We are proud to represent many such nonprofit organizations operating in the greater Delaware Valley.
These organizations serve the communities in which we live with steadfast passion and dedication.  The focus on community improvement, volunteerism and charity is remarkable.  We are pleased to play our small part in furtherance of their lofty goals.

Unfortunately, not everyone involved in the nonprofit industry shares the same altruistic philosophy.  Invariably, we read newspaper stories about the nonprofit treasurer who diverted funds destined for an ambulance squad or the director that diverted hundreds of thousands from youth athletics programs.  The question becomes, what is a nonprofit to do when defalcation is discovered? 

Generally, the law imposes no duty upon an individual or organization that discovers a financial defalcation to report the facts discovered to the authorities.  Only with respect to certain crimes, mostly involving abuse or child pornography, does a duty to report criminal activity arise.  Under current statutory law, no such duty exists upon the discovery of a theft or diversion of nonprofit funds.    

Many nonprofits are reluctant to report the defalcation.  The negative publicity which follows a public disclosure can be devastating to the credibility of an organization that is already competing for donor dollars.  Based on such pressures, for-profit organizations often choose to forego even the private exercise of confronting the accused in an effort to seek recovery preferring instead to simply take steps to ensure the same kind of breach of trust could not be repeated.  In the nonprofit world, such private decision making is in sharp contrast to fiduciary duties owed to the organization and the moral, if not legal, duties which are founded in the donor/donee relationship.   Moreover, the public nature of nonprofit tax filings may render disclosure inevitable,  such that the desired privacy cannot be maintained. 

Large nonprofits must file an Internal Revenue Service Form 990 each year.  The form summarizes the financial performance of the nonprofit.  In turn, every Form 990 that is filed is publicly available with just a few key strokes.  The Form 990 requires that the organization report to the IRS whether the organization “became aware of a significant diversion of the organization’s assets” in the current year.  Thus, the IRS requires the organization disclose defalcations which amount to a “significant diversion”. 

Despite potential negative publicity associated with disclosure of malfeasance in nonprofit administration, the inevitability of disclosure weighs in favor of a more transparent approach.  Best practices suggest that the entity’s Form 990 be reviewed by the board of directors prior to submission to the IRS, in fact,  the redesigned form asks whether the tax return was furnished  to the board for review prior to filing.  An astute donor – particularly a business savvy donor - is likely to read the 990 with a critical eye.  The worst scenario is that a director or donor becomes aware of the defalcation and subsequently questions the adequacy of management response, potentially a death knell to contributions, and the tenure of the secretive executive director. 

In addition, the nonprofit’s auditor, while not required to disclose every fraud in a footnote to the financials, would need to consider whether the theft had a financial impact on the statements.  If the dollar amount warranted it, it might have to be reported directly on the statements – either as a line item-loss from fraud or a receivable for repayment of stolen funds. 

Further, the question of the directors’ fiduciary duties to the organization in such circumstances has not yet been addressed.  Certainly, the directors of a nonprofit, having been placed in a position of trust by the organization, and bear some responsibility for effective management and control.   To date, no court has imposed liability upon the directors of a nonprofit for failing to investigate potential recovery, failing to report defalcation, or failing to seek recovery of proceeds unlawfully diverted.   While that is certainly not what the volunteer directors sign up for, we can see that case coming. 

Navigating the potential exposure requires a complete understanding of financial controls and information, reporting requirements and the composition of the board of directors.  Generally, the best advice is to conduct a complete investigation, proactively adopt whatever policies are necessary to prevent a re-occurrence, and report the bad actor to the relevant authorities.  Such actions would certainly satisfy any duty to the organization. 

In the many years I have been working as outside counsel to closely held businesses, one of the frequent pitfalls leading to costly litigation and operational conflicts is the failure of shareholders to adequately document and formalize their expectations, especially as it relates to minority shareholders.  The first question I ask when contacted by a business owner who is dealing with shareholder conflicts is “What does your shareholders’ agreement say?”  Unfortunately, too often, the answer is “What shareholders’ agreement?”   

Many small businesses are formed by a group of people who share a collective belief at the time of formation.  There are often unwritten understandings as to the division of roles within the business.  Almost universally, the expectation is that all of these founding shareholders will devote ongoing resources to the business.  Conflicts arise when those expectations diverge, when one shareholder fails to perform within the business, or even when a shareholder exits the company.   
 
When conflict does arise, mechanisms for resolution can be limited, complex and expensive.  Certainly a transfer of a non-performing shareholder’s stock seems like a simple straightforward course of action.  However,   in the absence of an agreement providing for transfer upon specified events, the business has no absolute right to remove a shareholder or force a transfer of the share ownership interest.  Even a shareholder who has ceased to be actively involved in the business continues to enjoy all of the rights attendant to the ownership of the shares: the shareholder need not come to work, need not contribute capital, need not pursue business opportunity in the name of the company.  Employment may end, but the right to enjoy distribution of profits does not, as long as share ownership persists.  As most small businesses are organized as subchapter “s” corporations, profits must be distributed in accordance with share percentage. 

Ownership of stock gives rise to all of the rights provided by statute.  Minority shareholders enjoy the right to obtain information about the performance of the company, attend and vote at shareholders’ meetings, and receive distributions of profits derived from corporate operations.  Minority shareholders can be an impediment to stock transfers, anchors against change and obstacles to capital expenditures. Such situations are a constant bone of contention among owners of small businesses. 
 
Of course, the best solution is an agreement that accurately reflects the understandings of the shareholders at the time the shares are assigned, or the company is formed.  Such agreements can provide clearly defined roles within the business, mandatory transfer upon termination of employment, death or disability, valuation mechanisms and provisions restricting transfer.  Adopting an agreement, at minimum, provides a foundation for the business relationship, and may provide a roadmap in the event of disagreement.    

In the absence of an agreement, a dispute with a minority shareholder requires careful management. The majority must take care to avoid vesting a minority shareholder with breach of fiduciary duty claims or shareholder oppression.   Compliance with corporate formalities is imperative. While there is no guaranty of continuing employment for a minority shareholder (with exceptions), distributions or profits in accordance with ownership percentages is required if the company has elected “s” corporation treatment.  Certainly, majority and employed shareholders may receive compensation for services rendered, but an artificial manipulation of corporate profits would certainly be relevant to a minority shareholder oppression claim.  

Pennsylvania Business Corporations Law provides little relief to a majority shareholder who continues to run a profitable business without the assistance of his or her minority shareholders. The statute provides no right to extract a non-performing shareholder against his/her will at any price, and provides no absolute right of liquidation. Even the nuclear option of judicial corporate liquidation requires that the complaining shareholder allege irreparable harm to the company; an allegation which may be impossible if the business is successful as a result of the majority’s efforts.

Formation of an appropriate and workable shareholders’ agreement requires legal representation; as does management of divergent goals between shareholders.  Owners of s corporations with minority shareholders would be wise to review their governing documents and take proactive steps to safeguard the future value of their shares, and avoid crippling and costly litigation. Antheil Maslow and MacMinn business attorneys are highly experienced in such matters and leverage a team of professionals in differing disciplines to navigate these complex waters.       

A recent article from NPR entitled “Trainers, Lawyers Say Sexual Harrassment Training Fails” got me thinking about employee training programs. Specifically, every employment lawyer will advise employers to provide training for employees regarding harassment and discrimination.  I would like to say that employers follow this advice in order to ensure a professional and safe workplace, but the truth is that employers provide training mostly because their lawyers advise them that training will bolster a defense in the event of a harassment claim.   This cynical approach to employee training is, I think, the reason why the experts cited in the article concluded that training is not working.  
 
Training is a “check the box” activity:  the employer gets to say that it provided training, in the event of a claim.  The employees are required to attend in order to keep their jobs, and so they attend and zone out.  The article accuses employees of going through the motions, but employers probably are too.  The lawyers told them to train, so the employer is training. 

Here’s what I’ve learned:  the serious offenders, those who engage in serial harassment, inappropriate relationships or even assault, are going to engage in that behavior no matter what training you provide.  An employee who lacks the insight to know that certain behaviors are unacceptable (everywhere, really) will not have an epiphany during mandatory employee training.  One-on-one training often helps in these situations, but not always, and not fundamentally (that is, the employee will know what to do to stay employed, but will not really care that the behavior was inappropriate).

Having said that, I want to be clear, employers should provide training – it is good risk management for certain employers.  But, perhaps it should be a more sincere activity on both sides:  employers should consider more interactive training, smaller groups and individualized training for departments.  They should also engage in a healthy evaluation of their workplace culture prior to planning the training. 

Further, if the goal is prevention of harassment, hostile work environment claims or other unacceptable workplace behaviors, training is not always the answer.  Instead, employers should remember that culture comes from the top.  If officers, supervisors and managers maintain professionalism, it sets the tone.  It might be valuable to warn and provide one-on-one training to managers who do not demonstrate professional behavior, but in the end, appropriate workplace behavior should be a qualification for any leadership role. 

No lawyer will ever advise an employer not to provide training, but perhaps it is time to be more thoughtful about what training looks like for specific employers.  Avoiding litigation cannot be the only goal, or the training will never work.  We can work with employers to come up with a training plan that complies with the law, and is appropriate for their business.