Q: As an employer, am I required to pay my employees sick time, vacation, and otherwise supply them with paid time off?
A: Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, there is no employer requirement to give employees paid time off. At the same time, states may vary on their time off requirements for employees, but generally there is no paid time off requirement.
Q: How many days per week can an employer require an employee to work?
A: Again, there are two sets of rules. Under the FLSA, there is no maximum. However, individual states will have varying requirements. For example, in Illinois, employees are required to be off at least one 24 hour period during a seven day work week.
Q: Are employers ever required to pay double time?
A: The only time an employer would be required to pay a double time wage would be if there is an agreement between the employer and the employee to require this to be so. Otherwise, holidays, weekends, and other time requires no double time. The FLSA does require time and a half to be paid after 40 hours of work during a week.
By: Basi & Basi at the Center for Financial, Legal and Tax Planning for Transworld M&A Advisors