I'm often asked how practices can control overtime pay.
I'm often asked how practices can control overtime pay. It's so expensive.
To set the stage: Overtime pay is one and one half times the regularly hourly rate, not two times or more. It is paid for hours worked in excess of 40 in a defined workweek -- say, from 7:00 a.m. Monday until 6:59 a.m. the following Monday. Holiday, vacation, and sick leave do not qualify as hours worked and therefore do not result in overtime pay.
Salaried employees are exempt from overtime, but a salaried employee must qualify for administrative or professional exemption status -- usually 80 percent of their time has to be spent doing specific administrative or professional work. Any "comp" time granted for overtime must be given in the same week, which will then be recognized as normal pay.
So, how can you control the costs related to overtime? Here are some ideas. It's not intended to be a complete, comprehensive list. Hopefully, though, it will spark some creativity on how you can better manage overtime in your practice.
Owen Dahl, FACHE, CHBC,
is a nationally recognized medical practice management consultant with over 24 years of experience in consulting for and managing medical practices, and he is the author of
Think Business! Medical Practice Quality, Efficiency, Profits.
He can be reached at odahl@houston.rr.com or 281 367 3364.
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