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Compensation & Benefits

Employee fired for filing Form SS-8 may sue

06/20/2011
A worker who was fired after admitting to his employer that he filed Form SS-8 with the IRS to determine his status as an independent contractor or employee can continue his lawsuit for unpaid overtime, a federal trial court has ruled.

Majority of Americans say they’re paid fairly

06/17/2011
While you may be the one hearing the cries of the underpaid, a majority of American workers (60%) believe they are paid fairly, says a survey of 1,000 U.S. workers by HR consultant Kenexa.

Employee must prove class action is warranted

06/16/2011
Lately, California employers have faced a flood of class-action lawsuits claiming they misclassified employees. Now that tide might turn, thanks to a ruling by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Know the risks of DOL’s new time sheet app

06/16/2011
A few weeks ago, U.S. employees gained a powerful new tool to prove their wage-and-hour cases: the new “Timesheet” app for smartphones from the DOL’s Wage and Hour Divi­sion. Impact: Now employees may claim they have the most accurate time records! All the more incentive for you to accurately track actual hours worked—not just hours written on a time sheet.

Suspect that ’emergency’ was bogus? When to ask for a (real) doctor’s note

06/16/2011
Some people will do anything to get out of work early, including lying about their child’s health. One employer did the smart thing and demanded proof when it became suspicious.

The great 8: Smart tips from the ‘best places to work’

06/16/2011
Is your organization a “great place” to work? Every year, the employers that are bestowed that title seem to consistently include companies that provide creative HR practices in areas such as perks, benefits and worker management. Some of the leading ideas:

Feds issue new tip credit pooling rules

06/15/2011
Employers are now free to set the percentage of employee tips that can be placed in a tip pool. In years past, several court decisions conflicted with the U.S. Department of Labor’s position restricting the amount of tips an employer could require to be pooled.

Feel free to deny employees’ FMLA leave requests that aren’t legitimate under the law

06/15/2011

Some employees think they’re entitled to FMLA leave for every family emergency. They’re wrong. You should only grant leave requests based on legitimate reasons and reject clearly frivolous ones. You should also require employees to follow your rules and provide adequate notice.

Thinking of stiffing illegal immigrant workers? Better be ready to defend huge class-action suit

06/15/2011
The fact that a worker is in this coun­try illegally does not mean he can’t file a Fair Labor Standards Act overtime lawsuit. What’s more, that case can turn into a class-action suit, representing all other similarly situated illegal workers.

Time to post Florida’s new minimum-wage poster

06/15/2011

No doubt, you already raised hourly pay for your minimum-wage employees. The new Florida rate took affect on June 1, 2011, and raised the minimum wage to $7.31 per hour. That’s just a few cents more than the federal rate of $7.25. But have you put up the new poster in a conspicuous place?