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Working During the Holidays

>>AMY SUSAN: Tis the season for holiday employment. Hi, I'm Amy Susan, Communications Director for the Missouri Department of Labor, and I'm joined here with Mitch Volkart. He's a program director for Wage and Hour and the Division of Labor Standards. And today Mitch will be giving us some tips on what we should know and do before getting a job during the holiday season. Mitch, can you tell us during the holidays is there a maximum amount of days or hours an individual can work during the season?

>>MITCH VOLKART: There's no special rules for the holiday season uh, so an adult it's any hours over forty in a given in a work week shall be paid at one and one half times the regular rate of pay. For fourteen and fifteen year olds there's no more than eight hours on a non-school day, no more than three hours on a school day, no more than six days in a work week.

>>AMY: Okay, and what typical holiday jobs would be considered unacceptable for youth?

>>MITCH: Holiday jobs may involved things like cutting down trees. Youth aren't going to be permitted to utilize chainsaws or other electrical tools to cut down the trees. Uh, cannot be using forklifts to move uh, equipment or merchandise from the back to the front of the store. Uh, things of that nature that would be hazardous, and those would be prohibited year round.

>>AMY: Okay um, it required that the employer tell the employee before he or she is hired that they will be letting them go after the holidays? And again, this is just temporary employment.

>>MITCH: There is no wage-an-hour law that tells or that stipulates that an employer must advise the employee of that. I would encourage an employee or a prospective employee that if they are interested in that or have a concern with that, that maybe they ask the employer before accepting the position.

>>AMY: When someone's hired as a seasonal worker what is the lowest rate they can be paid per hour?

>>MITCH: Uh, it's the same standard throughout the year. They-if it's a retail or service business that grosses more than five hundred thousand a year, then they must pay the minimum wage and I would also take this opportunity to remind businesses that as of January 1, 2013, the minimum wage is increasing to seven dollars and thirty five cents an hour.

>>AMY: Okay, so again, that would will change after January 1 from seven twenty five to seven thirty five per hour?

>>MITCH: Correct, correct.

>>AMY: Okay, we sent out our field reporter to talk to a retailer about their thoughts as it pertains to in-kind wages rather than paying an actual monetary rate.

>>LISA MONTGOMERY: We, we pay everyone for their-I mean, for their time. It's very standard. So I mean, we pay, we pay the team member with an actual paycheck every two weeks and then um, they do get a team member discount and then also um, we have our great five percent um, debit card where if you have a debit card with Target and it comes from your checking account, you get an additional five percent. That's to guest and team members and tons of our team members take advantage of that. So they're able to get an additional percentage off. Um, most of the time we'll just deposit their check into their bank account to be able to use their debit card um, to get some of those purchases even cheaper.

>>AMY: Despite the fact that this business does not do that, is it appropriate or legal to pay someone in kind with food or products other than handing someone a check every week?

>>MITCH: Yes, businesses may take credit for a good or service that's provided to the employee's benefit and take that amount as a credit toward the minimum wage.

>>AMY: Okay, how does that work as far as um, a paper certified payroll or a paycheck?

>>MITCH: Well the businesses are required to keep good, accurate, detailed records of um, that transaction and then they must report it on the check as a deduction, a post tax deduction uh, the amount and the credit that was taken.

>>AMY: So to wrap this up Mitch, what other tips or things do you want employees to consider before they take that holiday or seasonal job?

>>MITCH: I think employees need to keep in mind that safety should be the number one concern. Uh, they need to make sure especially if it's a second job, that they're getting plenty of sleep and that they, themselves don't become a hazard to the workplace uh, by sleep depravation, et cetera. Um, also I think they need to look at and make sure that they are being properly classified as an employee if in fact they are an employee. Uh, they don't want to be misclassified as an independent contractor because that would take away certain benefits such as unemployment insurance and workman's comp.

>>AMY: Okay, and to check that out, we have a free and helpful online assessment. Just visit the website under this screen. Thank you, Mitch for joining us. We really appreciate it. And if you all have any questions, comments, or concerns, you can visit the link underneath this video, as well as other helpful brochures. Thanks.