Many employers find nowadays that at least some workers are
unable to read, write, or do simple arithmetic beyond the lowest
levels (if at all). Management wants to give the employees
mandatory training in these areas, but not if that means incurring
overtime costs when the instructional time causes the
employees' hours worked to exceed 40 in a workweek. But, under
the right circumstances, there is a little-known way to increase
employees' basic academic abilities without having to pay FLSA
overtime premium for the time they spend learning.
The General FLSA Training Rules
The U.S. Labor Department (DOL) says that time spent in employer
training generally must be considered compensable work, unless four
criteria are met. That is, the training time has to be added
together with the employee's other hours worked (including for
overtime-pay purposes), except where:
