Several workers from popular reality television shows have filed wage-and-hour claims with the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, according to the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) ...

Hotels near Los Angeles International Airport will have to begin offering higher pay. The California Supreme Court has declined to review an appeals court decision upholding a city ordinance that requires the hotels to pay its workers the city’s living-wage rate ...

Seattle-based Pyramid Breweries has agreed to pay $1.3 million to settle a lawsuit brought by an employee claiming that employees at three Northern California brew pubs were denied meal and rest breaks ...

Q. We recently learned that a new law was passed allowing the spouses of military personnel to take unpaid leave. Is this true? ...

On July 24, the federal minimum wage will take the second step in the three-step increase that Congress approved last year. The wage floor will rise from its current $5.85 per hour to $6.55 per hour ...

Federal anti-discrimination law gives employees either 180 or 300 days (depending on the state they live in) from the time of an alleged unlawful practice to file an employment discrimination claim with the EEOC. A bill pushed by Democrats this year would have changed the 180/300 days statute of limitation in pay discrimination cases in a more employee-friendly way ...

Test your knowledge of recent trends in employment law, comp & benefits and other HR issues with our monthly mini-quiz ...

Q. How should I calculate the number of hours to charge to an employee’s 12-week FMLA entitlement? We have employees who work 40, 55 and 64 hours per week. Do we give them a 12-week cap or do we extend the weekly amount to cover the amount of weeks it would take to cover 480 hours (which assumes a “standard” 40-hour week)? — N.P., Illinois ...

Q. I’m confused about medical certifications and employees who don’t want to use FMLA leave. Can I, if I believe the employee is out for an FMLA condition, force him to take FMLA leave? — A. B., Florida ...

Q. I’ve heard that if both parents work for the same company and they have a child, they’re only allowed to take a combined 12 weeks of FMLA leave. Is that true? — J.S., Pennsylvania

For better or worse, intermittent FMLA leave sometimes has the effect of turning a full-time job into a de facto part-time one. That means an employee taking intermittent leave probably won’t get everything done. it’s up to the employer to figure out how to fill the gap ...

Are you concerned about possible FMLA abuse? The law and FMLA regulations allow employers to insist on receiving FMLA certification forms directly from a health care provider’s office—and not by way of the employee. That way, there’s little chance the employee can alter what the doctor has certified ...

It isn’t unusual for fathers to have extensive child care responsibilities. Make sure your policies recognize that fact. Don’t succumb to stereotypical thinking. For example, if you waive some work requirements so mothers can pick up their kids from day care, give fathers the same flexibility ...

Illinois Bell/AT&T Illinois is the latest target in a national wave of class-action back-wage lawsuits brought on behalf of call center employees. A lawsuit against the phone company says it pays workers only for time when they are logged into the phone system, ignoring time spent working when they are not on the phone ...