Keeping Good Employers In Compliance since 1986. Our mission is your compliance. Our vision is to give employers the tools to manage their workforce and stay in compliance. Don't settle for standards, be the benchmark - use MKAI and get consultants that know you, know your industry, and are there for you after the initial consultation.
We have the knowledge and experience to give you the tools to manage your workforce today -- the depth to answer your questions tomorrow.
Our clients range across all industries. Large residential care establishments with over 5000 employees. Sheltered Workshops of every size. Retail establishments and Manufacturers, Banks, & Law Firms. We assist School Systems, City & County Governments, & Emergency Services every day.
MKAI celebrated it's 18 year anniversary in May of 2004. The firm now has over 420 clients in 40 states.
We are the national Commensurate Wage Authority. Experts on The Fair Labor Standards act including exemption determinations, overtime, back wages, and more.
The Knuckles Report - the answers to the questions that our clients are asking since 1989. The best source for Commensurate Wage compliance, HR News, Investigation news, Management methods and Regulation updates. Subscribe Now.
Consultants include former and retired representatives of the federal enforcement agencies including the U.S. DOL. Associates include career HR professionals certified by the Society for Human Resource Management.
Mark Knuckles - CEO
Wage Hour Consultant - FLSA Authority - Coach to Executives
Founder of
MARKKNUCKLES Associates, Inc., the Nation's
Commensurate Wage Authority --Mark left the U.S. Department of Labor in 1986 to begin private consulting.
Recognized as an FLSA & Part 525 Commensurate Wage Authority, Mark is frequently asked to speak for Private, Non-Profit & Public Sector groups.
Mark Speaks and Conducts Training regularly for state associations and employer associations. Since 1989, he has published The Knuckles Report, a monthly newsletter on human resource management & workplace regulation compliance.
Mark is a native of Atlanta, Georgia. He was a City Of Atlanta, Mounted Policeman. He flew 'huey' helicopters in combat in Vietnam earning 26 Air Medals and the Bronze Star for meritorious achievement in combat. An active member of First Baptist Church in Hickory, with current and past lay leadership responsibilities including Deacon Committee Chair, Youth Division Director, adult, youth and children teacher. He lives in Hickory with his wife, Joy. They have two sons, John, UNC-Charlotte graduate, joined the firm in 2001 as part of Client & Services development and James, a Graduate of Mars Hill College.
Mark provides consultation and technical assistance to all types of employers and their legal counsel.
Oran Clemons - Wage Hour Consultant - FLSA Specialist - Expert Witness
Oran
Clemons retired from the U.S. Department of Labor, Wage Hour Division in
1996 after 28 years enforcing the Fair Labor Standards Act, FLSA. His career
with the Wage Hour Division included Oklahoma City and Las Cruces, New
Mexico, with other temporary assignments for special detail work. Oran investigated employers for the Wage Hour Division - retail establishments, manufacturing, warehousing, agricultural operations, and work activity centers and sheltered workshops paying commensurate wages. Investigations included compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act, FLSA, Family & Medical Leave Act, FMLA, Child Labor Law, government contract wage laws including the Service Contract Act, SCA, PCA, and Davis Bacon. Oran received “outstanding” performance ratings for his investigation work and received special achievement awards for significant case work, including the Division’s first Special Productivity Award in December 1987.
Since 1996, Oran has provided consultation and expert witness services to both employers and their legal counsel. He is experienced with litigation issues from both the plaintiff’s and respondent’s perspective with experience on both sides in litigation cases in private and public sector employment.
Oran is particularly skilled in the Part 541 “white collar” salaried exemption status determinations, Part 553 public agency employment including Section 7k issues and comp time, Section 14c commensurate wage issues, Family and Medical Leave Act compliance, government contract compliance, including general FLSA compliance. With 28 years of enforcement experience, Oran knows the FLSA and FMLA and Wage Hour Division enforcement. Oran became an associate of MKAI in May of 2003.
Penelope ‘Penny’ Church, SPHR - HR Consultant, Affirmative Action Plan Specialist
Penny
is a Senior Professional in Human Resource Management, (SPHR) certified by
the Society for Human Resource Management. She has been a Human Resource
management professional since 1981. In October 2002 she joined Mark Knuckles
Associates, Inc.Previously she was with Corning Cable Systems in Texas and North Carolina and has managed recruiting, staffing, organizational development, compensation, benefits, payroll administration, EEO
affirmative action development and reporting, Worker’s Compensation, supervisory training, problem employee management -- corporate level and plant environment. Penny is particularly skilled in affirmative action plan development, reviews and maintenance, interviewing and hiring skills, policy development, workers’ compensation management issues, compensation analysis, supervisory skills training, equal employment opportunity issues and EEO-1 and similar reporting.
She graduated with honors from Oklahoma City University with a BA in Education and earned her Masters of Arts in Education from Purdue. She is a member of the Charlotte, NC Chapter of the Employment Management Association, former member of the Dallas-Ft. Worth Society of Human Resource Managers and is active in community organizations such as the Salvation Army and home owners’ association.
Deane Schubert - HR & HIPAA Consultant, HealthCare Management Specialist
A
career healthcare management professional with more than 25 years managing
hospitals, multi-specialty clinics, skilled care facilities, rehabilitation
units, residential units, group homes, ICF-MR facilities, and work activity
centers for persons with disabilities.Former Vice President for Ethics and Compliance of a multi-state, multi-unit organization with more than 1800 employees. He also chaired the organization’s HIPAA privacy rule compliance task force. Deane is a certified HIPAA Privacy Officer.
Deane’s credentials include a Master of Science, Health Systems Management, from Ohio State University and a BS from the University of Florida. He is a member of the American Academy of Medical Administrators and a past state president.
He resides in Flat Rock, NC (near Hendersonville) with Barbara, his wife of 38 years. He has two sons, Michael, a firefighter in Atlanta, and Joel with Johns Hopkins University Hospital in Baltimore.
In addition to teaching HIPAA privacy rule compliance, he teaches motorcycle safety and owns a Harley Davidson motor cycle. His experience in industry and education makes him uniquely qualified with HR issues, including the HIPAA privacy rule requirements for the human services industry.
Emeritus - John Kahle -Consultant
John
Kahle is retired from the U.S. Department of Labor where he was the
Executive assistant to the Regional Administrator for the Employment
Standards Administration, USDOL, Atlanta, Georgia. He was responsible for
overseeing USDOL programs, including the Wage and Hour Division and the
Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. He represented the USDOL
region on national Committees on enforcement positions and interpretations
and also conducted USDOL internal investigations concerning employee
misconduct, racial and sexual harassment, misappropriation; and the ESA
annual regional budget.John has received special achievement awards for significant accomplishment in investigative work and back wage collection.
John Kahle specializes in Fair Labor Standards Act applications, government contract wage payment laws, child labor regulations, and Part 525 Commensurate Wage law.