Last Friday, Missouri State employees who are affected by the latest rule of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) met with their supervisors to discuss resulting changes to their employment category. This change does not adversely reflect the value of the work of those transitioning to non-exempt classification or their importance to the university.

FLSA update

It’s estimated that over 4 million employees across the U.S. will be affected by this change. It’s not just Missouri State. It affects all universities, businesses, government positions, etc. across the U.S.

We‘ve had a team working on the FLSA transition since the final rule was announced in May. The goal was to develop a compliance plan that treated affected employees with respect and minimized the impact on leave and compensation.

We feel we have accomplished this:

• A total of 184 employees will transition from salaried to hourly and, regretfully, one employee will be separated from the university effective Jan. 1.

• A total of 66 employees received salary increases to retain salaried status.

• Vacation and salaries were not reduced for affected employees.

• A professional non-exempt category was created to distinguish the professional nature of these positions and to ensure the position retains leave benefits that are appealing to future employees.

Lee National Denim Day

I’m not sure where you will be Wednesday 11 a.m.-1 p.m. I am going to be serving lunch at the Lee National Denim Day luncheon. Please join us in raising money and awareness to find a cure for breast cancer. Proceeds go to the American Cancer Society.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!