Should the pre-school pay the teachers for attending training sessions?

Jan 16
10:05

2012

LizzieMilan

LizzieMilan

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According to FLSA, all the teachers should be given enough pay for the training period they attend. Teachers doing overtime should be rewarded with some incentives, fringe benefits, holiday packages, etc. for improvising the productivity of teaching staff.

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Most states need child care teachers and staff to take a particular amount of yearly continuing education. Teachers and staff regularly attend training sessions after normal working hours. Does the center have to pay them for this preparation time?
In early childhood education program,Should the pre-school pay the teachers for attending training sessions?  Articles this question has caused substantial uncertainty across the country in recent months. Many states need annual staff training. The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires that workers get paid for training time if the training is required to keep their jobs. Yet local offices of the Wage and Hour Division (W&HD) of the U.S. Department of Labor have ruled in a different way as to whether providers must get paid for training time.
The stakes are soaring. FLSA allows workers who win complaints to collect back pay for up to two years, or three years for “stubborn violation.” One major chain in recent times was slapped with more than $500,000 in back pay and fines for not paying teachers for time spent in training.
FLSA clearly states that private sector staff must be paid for working out that takes place during normal working hours. Employers must pay whenever they need workers to concentrate on training during or after regular hours. Employees working more than 45 hours in any week must be paid at least time-and-a-half for additional hours.
Much recent misunderstanding has been caused by the definitions of “voluntary” training and whether training straightly relates to the job. Contrary to an accepted belief, a center does not have to support training or require it for it to “relate to the job.” Government-required training, for example, may qualify. The key, and the source of seemingly differing opinions from different W&HD offices, depends on the quirks of individual state laws.
In sum, if your state requires teachers to believe the burden of getting on-going, after-hours training, the employer does not have to pay for training time. But, if the law gives the boss the responsibility of ensuring that its staff meets training requirements, the boss must pay for training time, even if the employee chooses the individual classes.
State Variations
Minnesota regulations, for example, require center-based providers to spend at least two percent of functioning hours a year in training. State law requires centers to document the training to keep their licenses. If providers move from one center to another, they cannot count training taken at the first center to their annual allotment (the clock starts ticking again the day they switch jobs). W&HD ruled that the training benefits the company, not the employee. Therefore, employers must pay for the training time. But if employees seek additional training, not required by law, the employer does not have to pay for that training time.
By contrast, the Georgia W&HD office ruled that state-mandated preparation does not need to be rewarded when given outside standard working hours, because it isn’t for the advantage of a precise employer but is mandatory for employee certification that transfers if the employee changes jobs.
Other state W&HD district directors have given unstable opinions, but they generally break up along the same lines: whose certification is at stake, company or employee. Your best bet is to check state law with your confined W&HD office.
FLSA exempts salaried (non-hourly) teachers, supervisors, and administrators from overtime pay requirements. In history of teacher training course in mumbai, however, W&HD hasn’t measured most child care workers “teachers,” because they spend most of their time in physical care giving rather than customary teaching activities. Someone hired mainly to give exact lessons, such as a music instructor or teacher trainer, could qualify as salaried and thus be excused from overtime pay for training.
W&HD has Ruled that Staff Must Be Paid for Time Worked When They:
Stay past closing time waiting for late parents to arrive—but not if staff show up in the early hours and read magazines waiting for their shift to begin.
 
•Remain on the premises “on call.” But if they remain “on call” at home, or have to leave a number, they don’t need to be paid.
 
•Get breaks for less than 30 minutes—but not if given 30 minutes or more off for meals, assume that they maintain no duties during that time. If staff look at over nap time or answer phones while eating, they must be paid.
 
•Drive home earlier than or after work if they pick up or drop off children, or take a trip between centers during the working day.
 
•Work past normal hours, even if not accepted, if the employer knows or has “reason to believe” the employee is working. The staff person who stays late cleanout the room must be paid even if not asked to stay, if the director sees that she hasn’t left.
 
• Go to special events, such as after-hour meetings for parents.
 
•Organize lesson, even if they do so at home.