Employee Records and Compensation

It is the responsibility of each employee to promptly notify Dunwoody of any changes in their personal data. Personal mailing addresses, telephone numbers, names of dependents enrolled in benefits, individuals to be contacted in the event of an emergency, educational accomplishment, and other such status reports should be accurate and current at all times. If any personal data has changed, employees should enter those changes into the Human Resources Information System.

Notice Regarding Access to Personnel Files

Minnesota Law provides employees with certain rights relating to their personnel records. Dunwoody will comply with all requirements of the law. Employees are put on notice of the following rights and remedies provided by Minnesota law.

Employees, upon making a good faith written request, have the right to review their personnel record, as defined by statute, up to once every six months. The record will be made available during Dunwoody’s normal hours of operation, but not necessarily the employee’s normal working hours, and at the employee’s place of employment. Dunwoody may require that the review be done in the presence of a Dunwoody representative. If employees so choose, they may make a written request for a copy of the personnel record which will be provided free of charge.

Former employees, upon making a good faith written request, have the right to receive a copy of their personnel record, as defined by statute, once each year after separation of employment for as long as the personnel record is maintained. The personnel records will be provided free of charge.

Dunwoody will comply with the written request to review or provide a copy of the personnel record within seven (7) working days after receipt of the written request, or within fourteen (14) working days after the receipt of the request if the personnel record is located outside of the state.

Employees and former employees have the right to submit a written position statement to the personnel record if the record contains any disputed information which the employee/former employee and Dunwoody cannot agree to remove or revise. The written position statement may not exceed five written pages. The written position statement must be included along with the disputed information in the record for as long as the disputed information is maintained in the personnel record. A copy of the written position statement must also be provided to any other person who receives a copy of the disputed information from Dunwoody after the written position statement is submitted.

Under the personnel records statute, employees and former employees may bring a civil cause of action seeking to compel compliance and may recover actual damages plus costs for a violation of the statutes. In addition, the Minnesota Department of Labor & Industry enforces the statute and can seek additional remedies.

Dunwoody will not retaliate against an employee for asserting the rights or seeking the remedies described above. The full text of Minnesota Statute Section 181.960 – 181.966 is available for review upon request.

Wage information

Employees have the right, under Minnesota law, to disclose their own wages and to discuss another employee’s wages which have been voluntarily disclosed by that employee.  An employee does not, however, have the right to disclose wage information to a competitor of Dunwoody. 

Dunwoody shall not require an employee to agree to give up his/her/their wage disclosure rights as a condition of employment, to sign any document that purports to deny an employee their wage disclosure rights, or take any retaliatory or other adverse employment action against an employee for exercising their wage disclosure rights.

A copy of Minn. Stat. § 181.172 can be obtained from Dunwoody upon request.  § 181.172 permits a civil cause of action for a violation of the statute and, in any such action, the court may, if found appropriate, order job reinstatement, back pay, restoration of lost service credit, and the expungement of adverse records.

Pay and Deductions

If the regular payday occurs on a Saturday, Sunday, Friday holiday, or a federal holiday, employees will be paid on the last prior working day. Each paycheck will include earnings for all work performed through the end of the previous payroll period. An employee who discovers a mistake their paycheck, loses their paycheck, or has it stolen should notify the Payroll Department immediately.

Each payday employees are able to access, in addition to their check or notice of direct deposit, a statement showing gross pay, deductions, and net pay. Applicable state, federal, and local taxes will be deducted automatically. Other deductions may also be made as required by law, or as designated by the employee. If you have questions concerning why deductions were made from your paycheck or how they were calculated, direct them to the Human Resources Department.

Pay Corrections

It is Dunwoody’s policy to fully comply with state and federal laws regarding payment of wages and to investigate and correct any improper payroll deductions or other payroll practices that do not comply with these laws. Dunwoody takes all reasonable steps to ensure that employees receive the correct amount of pay in each paycheck and that employees are paid promptly on the scheduled payday.

In addition, Dunwoody will pay salaried employees their full salary for any workweek in which they perform work, regardless of the number of days or hours worked, subject only to deductions that are permitted by law.  

In the event that there is an error in the amount of pay, that an improper deduction has been taken, or another improper payroll practice is occurring, the employee should promptly bring the issue to the attention of the employee’s supervisor or the Payroll Department, so that corrections can be made as quickly as possible. Dunwoody will see that the matter is appropriately reviewed, and the employee will be reimbursed for the amount of any inappropriate deduction taken or other payroll mistake.

Pay Advances

In the event of a personal emergency, employees may request a pay advance.  Employees must submit a Pay Advance Request Form to Human Resources, indicating the general nature of the emergency involved. Human Resources will evaluate the request and determine whether a pay advance can be granted.  The amount of any pay advance granted may not exceed 50% of an employee’s normal paycheck amount. The employee will receive the remaining 50% of the paycheck on the normal payday. 

Overtime

Non-Exempt employees will be paid overtime compensation at the rate of one and one-half times their regular hourly rate for work in excess of 40 hours worked during their normal workweek (Sunday – Saturday).  The employee’s supervisor must approve overtime in advance.  Failure to work scheduled overtime or overtime worked without prior authorization from the supervisor may result in disciplinary action, up to and including termination.

Overtime pay is based on actual hours worked. Time off on sick leave, PTO, holiday, personal time or any leave of absence will not be considered hours worked for purposes of calculating overtime.

Employee References

Employees are not permitted to give references of any kind regarding current or former employees (including student employees). References of this nature should be referred to the Human Resources Department. Only pertinent, factual information, such as dates of employment, job title, etc. will be released by Human Resources.