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Compensation & Benefits

Texas agencies face federal sex discrimination lawsuits

07/31/2012
The U.S. Department of Justice is suing the Texas Department of Agriculture and the Texas General Land Office for alleged pay discrimination at the now-defunct Texas Department of Rural Affairs.

How can we stop the clock on off-the-clock work?

07/30/2012

How can an employer reduce its exposure to claims for off-the-clock work if employees use their own electronic devices for business purposes?

Family members work side by side at Illinois firm

07/30/2012

At Chicago-based PortionPac, plenty of siblings work side by side, and parents often have their adult children as colleagues. Management at the cleaning-fluids manufacturer makes sure those family members have plenty of time to spend with the ones who don’t work there.

What makes a full-time employee?

07/27/2012
Q. How many hours must employees work to be considered full time? Part time?

Employees switch shifts: Does that potentially increase our overtime liability?

07/27/2012

Q. Are employers required to pay for overtime hours that result when an employee voluntarily switches shifts with a co-worker?

Could your time records withstand scrutiny?

07/27/2012

If you can’t show your time records are accurate, lawsuits claiming unpaid over­­time can get costly. That’s because—absent reliable employer records—courts will let employees fill in the timekeeping details. Make sure your records are easily ex­­plained and tamper-proof.

Everything you wanted to know about corporate taxes (but didn’t know how to ask)

07/26/2012
Payroll expense is a usually a company’s largest deductible expense. That’s a huge impact on the bottom line. But there’s a world of difference between payroll and corporate taxes, according to consultant Gretchen Inouye, CPP.

Review severance packages to limit liability for age bias

07/25/2012
When employers offer severance packages, they often ask employees to waive their rights to sue the employer. That’s a smart strategy, but small discrepancies in the agreement’s wording can make the difference between a successful severance package and a call from the EEOC.

Bolster benefits to retain best and brightest

07/25/2012
The job market is opening up, increasing opportunities for employees to change jobs if they want to. The bad news for employers: The workers most likely to look for new jobs are those that organizations would most like to keep. The secret weapon for retaining valued, high-performing employees with wandering eyes: better benefits.

Do tips count as pay for the purpose of calculating an employee’s overtime rate of pay?

07/24/2012
Q. Some of our employees receive tips from cus­­tomers. Do we need to include those tips when we calculate these employees’ rate of pay for purposes of paying them overtime?