Of all the employment issues out there, overtime is relatively simple, right? Just hand it off to the payroll company and voilà, it's done. Of course, the payroll company does not decide whether employees have to clock out for breaks or travel from site to site during the work day as work time. Those issues are for you to decide.

Minor points? I'll get to that later? Maybe that will work, but think about this: If you have 20 employees making $10\hr and you screw up just 15 minutes of overtime a day, you could be looking at an assessment of $37,500.00 from the Department of Labor or a lawsuit with that much in damages, plus attorney fees for you and the employee's lawyer.

Take a look at this month's piece, and the companion on overtime exemptions which will come out next month, so you don't become a statistic.

To download this month's edition of the Employer Handbook, click here.