The destruction wreaked by Hurricane Harvey on Houston and greater southeastTexas will close businesses for an undetermined amount of time andpotentially leave out of work tens of thousands of people stuck inshelters or grappling with flooded homes.

In the early days after a major natural disaster — at leastweeks of recovery — what should employers consider about pay andwork obligations they can take to avoid long-term repercussions forfailing to protect employees?

Related: 4 ways HR managers can minimize natural disasterrisks

Harvey is the first major hurricane in a decade, since HurricaneKatrina ravaged Louisiana in 2005. In the aftermath of Katrina,companies were forced to confront work-leave issues and staffingstrains. Workers' rights organizations also took the U.S. Labor Department totask for not providing overtime compensation for stormclean up. After Katrina, there were several majorlawsuits surrounding leave and wage and hour issues.Many companies updated their disaster policies.

Until businesses resume operations, employers affected by Harveyhave a few options they could consider, said Donald Schroeder, apartner at Foley & Lardner in Boston who specializes inemployment law.

Employers should explore whether they can relocate operationsfrom Houston, Schroeder said, and they should look at their leavepolicies — or even consider imposing a mandatory leave. He alsosaid employers should assess any policies that affect whether ornot non-exempt employees are required to use paid time off duringthe shutdown period.

"Communication with the workforce is critical," Schroeder said."Employees may assume they are being paid by the company eventhough they are not able to report to the company's location due toflooding or, worse yet, complete destruction of the company'soffices and/or their residences."

Schroeder said a company's failure to communicate aboutcompensation and other matters "can potentially lead to multiplewage and hour problems down the road."

Wage payment, leave issues, staffing

The three biggest labor areas employers will face are wagepayment, leave issues and staffing, said Kim Rives Miers, a LittlerMendelson shareholder in Dallas.

"This is not your typical hurricane," Miers said. "People willbe out for such an extended period of time, employers will beforced to make hard decisions."

Federal labor laws onlyentitle hourly workers to compensation if they are working, even ifthey are not working because a worksite is shut down or if anemployee decided to evacuate. Yet, there could be exceptions duringa major weather event. Employers could consider on-call time andcompanies must pay for remote work.

Related: Determining business interruption losses afterHurricane Harvey

Employees who are on salary, orexempt workers, must be paid their wages, even when an employershuts down its operations. With salaried workers, employers mayrequire them to use vacation or sick time, depending on thecompany's policy.

Miers said Littler Mendelson is advising clients to examinetheir leave policy and follow it carefully — and also apply itequally. Still, employers faced with the aftermath of a disastercan be flexible.

"You need to create your plan and stick to it," she said. "Inthese extreme circumstances, we are encouraging employers to beflexible, but they need to be fair and consistent with thisflexibility." She added: "We don't need to be so afraid of breakingthe law, we aren't doing the right thing by employees."

Related: 4 ways to minimize catastropherisks

Mandatory leave can be a tricky area for employers. Employers donot have to pay hourly workers, or have a non-exempt status, ifthey are not working, which would dramatically affect a largenumber of workers affected by the devastation. They can also berequired to use paid time off and sick days. Medical leave is alsocommon during such incidents.

'Extraordinary circumstances'

In a blog post addressing this issue, Miers and her Littlercolleagues wrote, "Even if applicable leave laws and employerpolicies and practices do not provide for non-medical leaves ofabsence, the circumstances of a natural disaster will probablypresent extraordinary circumstances that may allow an employer togrant the time off to employees directly or indirectly affected bythe disaster.

"While strict adherence to leave policies is the conservativeand prudent management approach for employers in normal operatingcircumstances, when a disaster strikes employers should be flexibleand considerate by expanding or at least temporarily relaxingotherwise restrictive existing leave policies."

Other issues employers should consider are employee assistanceprograms, property and casualty claims, worker's compensation inquiries, benefitscontinuation options and tax reporting duties.

"The biggest piece of advice we have is to do your best to dothe right thing by your employees while complying with the laws,"Miers said.

DOL guidance

This week, the U.S. Labor Department announced anupdate on the employee benefit plan compliance forthose impacted by Hurricane Harvey.

"Our deepest and most immediate concern is for those who are inharm's way, and for the first responders who will work tirelesslyto help those affected," said U.S. Secretary of Labor AlexanderAcosta. "We also realize that employers and employees impacted byHurricane Harvey will need assistance in dealing with employeebenefits issues arising from disruptions in banking and payrollprocessing."

Related: 3 steps to take to create a safeoffice

The Labor Department issued guidance for employers, labororganizations and participants who might be affected for theforeseeable future by the effects of the storm, including allowingfor delay in payments for the employee pension benefit plan andleniency on blackout period notification.

Erin Mulvaney, based in Washington, covers labor andemployment. Contact her at [email protected]. OnTwitter: @erinmulvaney.