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Compensation & Benefits

2012 FICA wage base, employee tax rate

09/02/2011
The Social Security Administration has announced that the taxable wage base for the Social Security portion of FICA will increase to $110,100 in 2012. That’s a 3.1% hike over the 2011 wage base of $106,800. The tax rate for the employee portion of payroll taxes stands at 4.2% … at least through Feb. 29.

Cut pay if warranted: It’s OK under FLSA

09/01/2011
The Fair Labor Standards Act grants many rights to workers, in­­cluding the right to overtime pay for working more than 40 hours in a workweek. It does not, however, prevent employers from lowering hourly wages if they choose to do so.

Don’t micromanage store managers

09/01/2011
Want to keep exempt status in place for your store managers? One key is to make sure regional managers don’t micromanage the store. Giving store managers autonomy helps show they truly do have managerial authority.

Working online before commuting: Is drive time paid?

08/30/2011

Many employees spend time at home before or after their workday checking email. For nonexempt employees, that work could count as paid time if it amounts to a “substantial” amount of time. But now some hourly employees have begun to raise a related issue: If they start the day with a few work emails, shouldn’t they be paid for the time they spend commuting to work?

Must employers grant FMLA leave for an adult child’s injuries?

08/29/2011
Everyone knows employees can use FMLA to care for minor children who have serious health conditions. But what about adult children who need a parent’s care? It’s a difficult issue that straddles the complex intersection of the FMLA and the ADA, plus definitions of “disability” and “care.”

Pizza Hut employees clock in using fingerprint biometrics

08/25/2011

At 118 Pizza Hut restaurants in South Carolina, North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia, employees give their fingerprints instead of ID numbers to clock in and out for the day. The restaurants are using Digital­Persona fingerprint readers for transactions like overrides, voids and discount authorizations.

How far must we go to deliver a final paycheck to a former employee?

08/23/2011
Q. Over the past six months, we have made several attempts to mail a former employee her last paycheck by certified mail. We believe we have the correct address because we mailed her other items by regular mail during this period and none has been returned. What legal obligations do we have, if any, to get this check to her?

Philly airport Legal Sea Foods wraps up odd pay policy

08/23/2011
Sometimes unique workplace situations lead to creative solutions, but those solutions aren’t always, well, legal. Legal Sea Foods’ location at the Philadelphia International Airport has two positions that apparently exist nowhere else in the chain: silverware rollers.

No more bonuses just for showing up on time

08/23/2011
The South Jersey Port Corporation, which operates shipping terminals on the Delaware River near Philadelphia, has heeded New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s call for fiscal austerity by taking a heretofore unusual step: It will no longer pay bonuses for not being late.

No more bonuses just for showing up on time

08/23/2011
The South Jersey Port Corporation (SJPC) has heeded Gov. Chris Christie’s call for austerity in state agencies by taking a heretofore unusual step: It will no longer pay bonuses for not being late.