To Our IFEA Industry Friends in the United States:
We wanted to bring to your attention an important change to the Department of Labor's (DOL) Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) that will have a particularly significant impact on our industry as it applies to exempt and hourly employees, who can be defined as which, and how they must/can be compensated. The new revisions were originally proposed in 2014 and have been under construction since then, but not in a manner that made a lot of headlines or drew a lot of attention, until now. These newly revised regulations could be published by the DOL as early as July, with an expected compliance window of as little as 60 days following that.
Because of the potential impact on both organizations and individual employees, as well as the planning and preparations that will be necessary to comply (much of it in the middle of a highly busy festival and event season, as well as the middle of most fiscal budget years), we felt it was important to bring this to your attention. The nature of our industry and how we must all operate with highly irregular schedule expectations, makes this a particularly impactful issue. To help us provide you with a good 30,000-foot summary of the topic, we asked new IFEA member Hawley Troxell Attorneys and Counselors (a full service business law firm who specializes in these and many other critical areas) to help explain the changes in this linked document: The Fair Labor Standards Act - Significant Changes on the Horizon.
After reading more about the proposed new regulations, it will be clear the resulting impact that these new regulations could/will have on definition of employee duties, wages, hourly tracking, overtime, comp time, budgeting, and more. As far as we have been able to research, with the help of Hawley Troxell, there does not appear to be any loophole(s) that would exclude non-profit organizations, nor our industry, from expected compliance. Non-compliance could risk exponential damages and legal fees down the road.
Because compensation laws are different in many states (and some municipalities), there is no one set of answers that we are able to provide to everyone. At this point, we would suggest that you begin by communicating with your HR Department or Representative (for those who have one) and with your legal counsel to discuss these changes and what it means for your own organizations. You may also want to talk with your CPA. If you do not have a legal counsel that you already use, Brad Milleror Jessica Pollackwith Hawley Troxell would be happy to work with you and to help guide you through the planning and processes needed to comply with the new regulations. They and their firm have the ability and the network to work both nationally and internationally.
The IFEA will continue to track the House and Senate Bills currently hoping to block these changes, as well as the formal publishing of the new regulations as that occurs. We will keep you all up to date as we know anything more. As appropriate, we will add Webinar sessions, Convention sessions and articles within our newsletters and publications. I hope that this information is helpful.
Best regards,
Steven Wood Schmader, CFEE
President & CEO
International Festivals & Events Association (IFEA) World Headquarters
About the IFEA: The International Festivals & Events Association (IFEA) is The Premiere Association Supporting and Enabling Festival & Event Professionals Worldwide. With a target audience that includes all those who produce and support quality celebrations for the benefit of their respective "communities," the IFEA's primary focus is identifying and providing access to the professional resources and networks that will inspire and enable those in our industry to realize their dreams, build community and sustain success through celebration.
For more information on the IFEA, go to: www.ifea.com or contact Beth Petersen, Director of Member Services at beth@ifea.com or +1-208-433-0950 ext: *816.
International Festivals & Events Association World Headquarters
