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Compensation & Benefits

Acquiring another company? Buyer beware on employee benefits

03/29/2011
If your company ever acquires another company that has multiemployer pension or health benefit plan obligations through a union, beware. You could wind up being responsible for any delinquent contributions or underfunded benefit liabilities of the seller.

Benefits administrator pleads guilty to ERISA embezzlement

03/29/2011
The owner of Ohio-based Irvin Administrative Solutions faces up to 10 years in prison plus fines and restitution for embezzling more than $1 million from 12 different retirement plans located in seven states. The company served as a third-party administrator for employee retirement plans covered under ERISA.

Employees can’t relitigate state case in federal court

03/29/2011
If an employee loses a case in state court and then doesn’t appeal, he can’t just march into federal court.

Electrical contractor to pay for fed labor law violations

03/29/2011
Fourteen employees of Quinco Electrical—a nationwide commercial electrical firm with a major office in Raleigh—will be getting something extra in their pay envelopes now that the company has settled a case alleging it violated federal contracting labor laws.

Comparing paychecks: Can we prohibit it?

03/25/2011
Q. You recently wrote that the National Labor Relations Act gives employees the legal right to discuss their pay with one another. Our office policy has always been that we do not allow this. Are we within our legal rights to prohibit it? We are a private medical practice with 88 employees and four offices.

How to discipline employees for working unauthorized OT

03/24/2011
Hourly employees know that if they work overtime, their employer must pay them for the extra hours. That’s true, but it doesn’t mean they can work OT whenever they feel like it. Here’s how to end unauthorized overtime:

Employees, employers embrace S.F. paid leave ordinance

03/23/2011

Employees and employers alike have embraced San Francisco’s generous paid sick leave law, according to a new survey by the nonprofit Institute for Women’s Policy Research. The law, enacted in 2007 after being approved by San Francisco voters, requires employers to credit workers with one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours they work.

What’s the California law on tip credits?

03/22/2011
Q. We are a national restaurant chain that pays our waiters and waitresses less than the minimum wage because they earn tips. We are planning to open our first restaurant in California. Can we continue to pay our tipped employees less than the minimum wage?

Under a PTO plan, how should we handle payouts when employees quit or get fired?

03/22/2011
Q. Our company is considering replacing sick leave and vacation benefits with a paid time off (PTO) system. Under a PTO plan, how should we handle it when an employee resigns or is terminated?

Metallica drummer will try to beat overtime lawsuit

03/22/2011
The former personal assistant to Lars Ulrich filed a lawsuit claiming the Metallica drummer violated state and federal laws by failing to pay him overtime. Steven Wiig claimed he worked between 50 and 70 hours per week, on duty at Ulrich’s home, in recording studios and during Metallica’s worldwide tours.