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Compensation & Benefits

Mere guessing at compensation disparity won’t help employee win EPA lawsuit

07/09/2013
Here’s some good news. A court has quickly dismissed a pay disparity lawsuit that a university mathematics professor filed accusing her university of paying male faculty more than their female colleagues.

Health care system honors nurses with week of ‘magic’

07/09/2013
Supplemental Health Care, which places nurses, therapists and other health care professionals in temporary jobs, celebrated National Nurses Week in May by rewarding the traveling nurses among its own employees.

State-by-state 2013 short-term child-care leave laws

07/08/2013

Here’s a chart summarizing states’ paid and unpaid short-term leave laws. In most cases, leave is unpaid, but employees may substitute paid leave. States that don’t have laws aren’t listed.

What should we do? Our summer intern is suddenly demanding back pay?

07/05/2013
Q. We hired an intern for the summer. She was eager to work for free to add it to her résumé … We told her that after this week we won’t need her. That’s when she said we owe her minimum wage or she’ll complain to the Department of Labor. Do we really have to pay her?

How to reduce wage-and-hour lawsuit risks (and defend yourself if sued)

07/05/2013
During a recent 12-month period, more than 7,750 wage-and-hour lawsuits were filed in federal courts, an increase of almost 10% over the preceding 12 months. Pennsylvania once again ranked among the top 10 states for such new lawsuits. The good news: There are ways for employers to reduce the risk of wage-and-hour suits, and strengthen their defenses if one is filed.

Directory assistance giant settles wage suit for $1.3M

07/05/2013
Kgb USA will pay $1.3 million to 14,568 workers across the country it misclassified as independent contractors. The company paid the ­workers piece rate for each text message they responded to, regardless of how many hours they worked.

Want to offer additional leave for disability? Be sure policy is drafted in your favor

07/05/2013

By now, you no doubt know that instantly firing someone who isn’t ready to return from FMLA leave may land you in legal trouble. Some employers have addressed this situation by crafting a policy that provides some additional leave. If you decide to do that, make sure you get legal help creating the actual policy.

5 arrested in Philadelphia protest over ‘wage thefts’

07/05/2013
Five Philadelphia University security guards sat down in traffic to protest what they call wage theft by their employer, McGinn Security. The guards claim McGinn has failed to pay proper over­­time and illegally requires officers to commute to company offices on their own time to complete citations.

Prepare to pay top dollar for top tech talent

07/04/2013
Technology salaries jumped by 5% last year, more than they have in a decade, according to a compensation survey by Dice, a career site for technology and engineering professionals.

Better late than never: 2013 maximum car/SUV valuations

07/01/2013
Employers that use the standard mileage rate (56.5 cents a mile in 2013) to value employees’ personal use of company vehicles are restricted to supplying vehicles of modest value …