Well, just calling it voluntary ain’t gonna cut it if you want to get out of paying for employee training.  If you are offering additional off-duty training to your hourly employees, you’ll need to adhere to some FLSA guidelines.

If the training is being touted as voluntary, but your employees get the impression that they will be adversely affected by not attending, this will not suffice. Listed below are some indications that will clear up some contrived “voluntary” training is truly mandatory and therefore, compensable:

  • Job postings indicate employees must be willing to learn topics discussed in training sessions
  • Non attendance would have a negative impact on employee performance reviews.
  • Employees are lead to believe that non attendance will result in adverse measures such as demotions, undesirable shifts, or poor performance reviews.
  • The training is specifically designed to improve employee performance in their current job capacity rather than preparing for a new position or promotion.

If any of the above apply, you need to pay your employees for training. If you are unsure whether your training program, or voluntary program fall under FLSA guidelines for paid training, call us at any time at (704) 921-2730 or send an email to payroll@directpaypayroll.com. Our account managers are always happy to assist.