HR Issues That Arise When Natural Disasters Hit

Natural disasters, like Hurricane Harvey, raise a host of issues for employers, regardless of whether these employers have a direct presence in the affected areas or whether they have employees residing in or telecommuting from them. Sometimes employers are forced to close or are able to remain open in some capacity, but employees are not able to travel to work or need to attend to emergent matters during or in the aftermath of these types of events. Some of the more commonly asked questions are addressed below.

1. If there is a forced closure of the workplace, must an employer pay its employees their wages during this shutdown period?

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act and applicable state laws, non-exempt employees must be paid for all hours worked. In the event non-exempt employees are not working during this shutdown period, they are not entitled to be paid wages for this period when they perform no work.  There are exceptions to this–for example, if the