How do we pay these guys?

LindaE

I posted this on Wage & Hour but am hoping you all will see it here! I need a quick answer, please! Two exempt salaried employees and one non-exempt hourly employee from our purchasing department went voluntarily to a plant in Indiana to gain product and vendor knowledge. They left Wednesday morning and returned Saturday. The co. paid for the plane tickets, food and lodging. What are our obligations for wages? The non-exempt guy usually does 4 or 5 10-hour days.
Linda Emser

hrbanker

My understanding of the W&H law is if you ALLOW a non-exempt person to work, they must be paid. You say they volunteered, but would they have gone if they DIDN'T work for you? Is the knowledge they gained useful in their job? ...If not, why did the company pay their way?

When we have non-exempts go out of town, we pay a standard 8 hour day unless the classes went longer than that, and then they are paid for the time they are involved in the training. ...You don't have to pay for the time they were in their hotel room, at dinner, shopping or otherwise on their own.

ray a

As a contract manufacturer, we often send ee's to visit our customers. Typically, it is the exempt professionals who go and they are paid their normal 8 hours for these business trips. Sometimes, non-exempt ee's will accompany the professionals. They are paid for the amount of time they are on the customer's premises with a minimum of 8 hours. They are paid OT if it is worked.

Of course by law, both catagories of ee's must be paid for travel time that occurs during their normal work hours regardless of the day of the week.

LindaE

Thank you both! Yes, hrbanker, to answer your questions, their trip was informational/job related, and by voluntary I meant it was not a mandatory trip. We just had some motivated guys take advantage of a good opportunity. Thanks again for your help!
Linda