Home Health & Hospice Week

Follow these experts' tips for a better way to deal with late paperwork. You could be courting a pricey penalty if you withhold paychecks from employees when they fail to turn in time sheets, charts or other paperwork on time. It can be very frustrating when employees are late in submitting their time cards and paperwork, but you can get slapped with fines and very expensive attorneys'fees if you take out your frustration on their paychecks. Agencies love linking paychecks to time cards "because it gets the stuff in on time," observes John Gilliland II with Indianapolis-based Gilliland & Caudill. But doing so is a big risk. State employment laws "are pretty nasty," warns attorney Liz Pearson with Covington, KY-based Pearson & Bernard. They usually require employers to pay up to three times the unpaid wages plus any attorneys' fees -- "always the kicker," Pearson says. You shouldn't be surprised if a case with $300 in wages results in $3,500 in attorneys' fees, Gilliland cautions. Violating state employment laws "could be a pretty pricey mistake," Pearson stresses. But that's what you're most likely doing if you are withholding paychecks based on late time sheets, the attorneys say. You could also be violating the federal Fair Labor Standards Act with withheld checks, Gilliland says. FLSA requires employers to pay up if they know time has been worked. HHAs like to argue that they don't really know the time has been worked unless they receive the time sheet. "That's a rational argument," Gilliland says, but he hasn't seen it be successful in front of any labor board. Agencies might be able to beat the opposition in court, but every HHA Gilliland has seen has settled rather than incur that very high cost, he tells Eli. Instead of withholding paychecks, try these strategies for battling late paperwork: Reduced pay. It's as simple as this -- "use reduced pay for incomplete work," Pearson counsels. Clearly communicate to employees a pay rate for incomplete work and a (full) pay rate for completed work. The safe way to avoid state law problems is to make the reduced rate, down to minimum wage, the job's base pay rate, Gilliland advises. Then, offer a "bonus" amount on top of that base rate for filling out and submitting paperwork on time. Reducing the base pay rate, on the other hand, doesn't fly in a number of states, he cautions. Discipline. In addition to reduced pay, you should back up your paperwork requirements with disciplinary action for repeat offenders, both attorneys recommend. "Use the discipline system," Gilliland urges. Whatever method you choose to combat paperwork problems, be sure to check if it complies with your state labor laws, which vary [...]