Tip of the Day: Legal considerations for furloughs

I received this week from Mercer citing alternatives to layoffs, furloughs and suspending 401(k) matches, while still cutting costs. About halfway through, I saw this nugget:

"...furloughs may prompt scrutiny from the Department of Labor since U.S. labor laws prevent employers from requiring salaried employees to reduce the number of weekly hours worked like they can do with hourly employees."

You may already know that, but it was news to me. And even if you knew, it never hurts to be reminded, right?

At any rate, Mercer also offered some alternative approaches to traditional cost-cutting measures without harming your employment brand or diminishing your resources of talent:

"These solutions involve cutting pay in exchange for enhanced paid-time-off banks and offering leaves of absence in monthly increments at reduced pay levels. Instituted as either a voluntary or involuntary measure, these alternative approaches cut workforces in the short-term while maintaining employment of critical talent over the long-term. The benefits are numerous – availability of essential employees once business improves, option to restore salaries and paid time-off to original levels, strong employee morale and additional cost-savings by not having to rehire workers."