The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) defines an employee's workweek as any fixed and regularly recurring period of 168 hours -- seven consecutive 24-hour periods. It does not need to coincide with the calendar week. An example of this is a workweek of Saturday through Friday. A workweek may begin on any day of the week and any hour of the day established by the employer. Employers are free to define the beginning and ending days for their work week as they so choose. Different workweeks may be established for different employees or groups of employees. Under section 7(a) of the FLSA, overtime compensation is determined on a workweek basis, and must be paid for hours worked over 40 in a workweek. There is no limit under the FLSA on the number of hours employees aged 16 and older may work in any workweek. It is the responsibility of the employer or supervisor to establish workweeks for each employee, including “exempt” employees, in writing. Once the beginning of an employee’s workweek is established, it remains fixed. The designated workweek for an employee cannot be changed unless it is intended to be permanent and may not be done to avoid paying overtime.

Whether time spent traveling is paid work time for nonexempt employees depends on the nature and the timing of the travel. Travel time that is work time is subject to both the minimum wage and overtime pay requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). In situations where overnight travel away from home is required (e.g., employees traveling the day before or after the work assignment), all time spent traveling during hours corresponding to the employee's normal working hours must be counted as time worked and the employee must be paid for those hours (29 C.F.R. § 785.39).

For example, if an employee regularly works from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. from Monday through Friday, the travel time during these hours is work time on Saturday and Sunday as well as on the other days. So, if the employee travels on a regular day off, perhaps Sunday, you must pay for any travel time between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. (regular meal times do not have to be paid). The employee must also be paid for all time spent at the seminar, training session, or working. Overtime pay is required if travel time and work time together exceed 40 hours in a workweek. For more information, please see the "Travel Time" section in the Compensation chapter.

Yes. The schedule deviation is a disciplinary issue, not a pay issue. Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), you have no choice but to pay employees for all hours actually worked. Address schedule violations under your company’s regular corrective action policy. Let your employees know, in writing, that in the future, all overtime must be approved by their supervisor in advance, and that failure to obtain such approval can lead to discipline, up to and including termination. If the excess hours resulted from some kind of supervisory negligence, there would also be an issue to address with regard to the responsible supervisor.

No. But employers are entitled to request that the employee provide medical certification. Employees must have 15 days to respond to the request. The employer may then request a second or third opinion from an approved health care provider, at the employer's expense.