Lawmakers are starting to pay greater attention to which employees should be salaried and which deserve overtime pay when they have exceeded the maximum number of hours in an average workweek. Changes in status could easily mean stains on the operating budgets for smaller credit unions.

Wage and hour laws have everything to do with treating employees equitably, and possible changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act could lead to the reclassification of some salaried staff as non-exempt. That means employees who heretofore have been working however many hours it takes to get their jobs done could suddenly be eligible for overtime pay, and that could challenge credit unions at both the financial and personnel levels. New rules from the Department of Labor could change everything, Gregg said.

Employees are exempt from FSLA requirements based on the tasks and responsibilities outlined in their job description, as well as the salary level at which the position is pegged. Right now the current salary threshold for exempt employees is $25,000, a figure that's remarkably low, Gregg noted.

"We anticipate there will be a major change in who can be classified as exempt salaried employees," Gregg explained.

Changes in wage and hour laws don't happen very often, the attorney said. The last revision was in 2004, although aspects of the law have not been updated since the 1930s. The current scenario has a lot of managers, especially of smaller enterprises, worried about the impact the changes may have on their wage and salary budgets.

Other areas also raise concern. For example, the proliferation of electronic alternatives and the ability of employees and outsiders to tap into corporate systems raises several workplace issues, Gregg said. As months go by, the issues of who owns company data and how employees can protect themselves becomes increasingly more complicated.

These days, every aspect of both personal and professional lives is governed by electronics, and that can pose problems for credit unions unaware of the nebulous nature of data ownership.

"The main question facing employers is how to control the electronic system, prevent the improper use of that system and maintain the ownership of the work that is done within the credit union," Gregg said.

One of the greatest liabilities affects employers who allow or even require employees to use their own electronic devices for business purposes in the workplace. Employees allowed or required to mix company data with personal information have entered a gray area when it comes to data ownership, one that won't necessarily favor the employer.

"Using personal devices for business purposes is incredibly dangerous and proliferates the inability to enforce confidentiality," Gregg said.

Such data mix-and-mingle policies aren't very healthy for the employees, either. In more litigious situations, Gregg said, employees may be required to turn over their personal electronics and let the court sort the information out, including any embarrassing selfies that might appear on the devices.

Read more: Social media can be a useful recruitment tool …

Social network access and usage in the workplace sometimes presents even greater problems, Gregg said. If an employee at work posts on his personal social media account that his boss is a moron, does the maligned boss have any disciplinary options?

"A response could be considered a protection of the employer, or it could be considered an invasion of the employee's privacy," Gregg said. "If there is a line that's drawn, it's getting much harder to find."

National Labor Relations Act standards go a long way to protect the rights of the employees regardless of whether or not they have a union, Gregg explained. Employees can be their own worst enemies, but their right to free speech in the electronic format remains sacrosanct, the attorney said.

"Employees have the absolute right to complain about wages, hours and conditions of employment over social media, and the National Labor Relations Board has been coming down and assessing penalties in situations where employers try to suppress those opinions," Gregg said. "You can't prohibit employees from badmouthing their companies on social media because they have a right to, and that drives companies nuts."

Social media also comes into play when recruiting new employees, according to Susan Looney, senior vice president of Credit Union Resources, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Cornerstone Credit Union League in Dallas, Texas.

"The recruiting piece is huge," Looney said. "It is currently a jobseekers' market and trying to find good talent has been truly difficult."

Credit unions' unique nature and member focus means choosing candidates based on the goodness of fit first and the proper skill set second is critical to finding the right staff for the right position, Looney added. In addition, credit unions as employers must more effectively market their brand to potential jobseekers on their website and through social media outlets.

"We need to sell our story," she explained. "The good candidates aren't necessarily out there looking, and as an industry we have to do a better job attracting and retaining staff."

The learning curve in this new environment will only steepen as baby boomers begin to retire in record numbers, leaving large gaps especially in upper levels of management, Looney said.

"It's estimated that 54% of credit union CEOs are going to retire in four to six years, and we'll have a lot of turnover in upper level management as well," she said. "Examiners have been getting all over credit unions if they don't have a succession plan to help them meet this challenge."

Better branding, better training programs and a more integrated effort can help credit unions attract and retain talent in the years to come, she added.

One of the most taxing issues revolves around the old practice of forbidding employees to discuss their salaries. The NLRB weighs on this issue, too, especially when it comes to employment policies and job handbooks. And the days of making salary discussions taboo is long past, Gregg said.

"I can't talk about my salary? That's a violation of my rights," Gregg said. "Any attempt to discourage staff from badmouthing their organization is prohibited. You can call the boss a jerk and unless you use a sexual, racial or religious slur you are probably covered."