• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

Compensation & Benefits

Is it OK for supervisors and employees to use different methods for recording work hours?

05/27/2011
Q. Our nonsupervisory, hourly employees punch in using a time clock. Our supervisors write timecards. Is this dual method acceptable or could it lead to legal trouble?

Philly councilman wants restaurants to remit full tips

05/27/2011
Philadelphia Councilman Jim Kenney has a bone to pick with some city restaurants. When customers charge their meals, he claims the restaurants deduct from waiters’ tips the credit-card processing fees businesses must pay. Kenney has introduced a bill in the City Council to bar the practice.

Consider ADA issues once FMLA, personal leave expire

05/27/2011
Do you automatically terminate employees who can’t return to work after exhausting FMLA leave and personal leave? That could violate the ADA.

Levies and garnishments: Tough questions

05/26/2011
Question: An employee who has child support withheld from his pay declared bankruptcy. We received a bankruptcy order that requires us to withhold $330 monthly. However, the Consumer Credit Protection Act says not more than 50% of an employee’s disposable pay can be withheld for child support. The bankruptcy trustee said that the 50% limit doesn’t apply, but this seems wrong to us. Who’s correct?

Beyond withholding: Payroll’s many compliance duties

05/25/2011
It’s not just about withholding, depositing and reporting anymore. Today, payroll’s responsibilities vary greatly, so we asked subscribers how much more they do:

Employee enrichment retains talent, boosts productivity

05/23/2011
The effects of the recession have helped turn the spotlight on innovative employers that seem to have magic formulas for attracting and keeping their employees happy and productive despite the economic forces around them. SAS Institute and Google are two examples of companies that, consciously or not, have tapped into new ways of motivating employees. Call it “employee enrichment.”

What are California’s rules on lactation breaks?

05/20/2011
Q. Are we required to give our employees additional rest breaks in order to express breast milk?

Given California’s strict break rules, can employees work through lunch?

05/20/2011
Q. We give our employees the opportunity to take up to a one-hour lunch break every day. However, several of our employees have requested to work through their lunch break in order to leave work earlier. Is this legal?

Children’s Hospital nurses return to work after strike

05/20/2011
After a five-day strike, registered nurses have started returning to their jobs at Children’s Hospital in Oak­land. The nurses, represented by the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United, walked out on May 5 over a dispute about health care benefits.

What will you decide: keep or drop employee health benefits?

05/20/2011
Most employers are not considering canceling health benefits as a result of the year-old health care reform law, according to two recent surveys. The Affordable Care Act may be politically unpopular, but employers assume that it will be a business fact of life for the foreseeable future.