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Compensation & Benefits

Rutgers staffers mull suit over pay freezes

06/28/2010

Last year, Rutgers University asked for a wage freeze for its 13,000 employees in exchange for not cutting any positions. This year, the state Legislature cut aid to the university by 15%. Faculty and staff bargaining units are threatening to sue because they voluntarily agreed to the wage freezes last year with the understanding they would receive them this year.


N.J. school teachers accept lower raises

06/28/2010
New Jersey public school teachers are accepting smaller raises in the wake of the ailing economy and state aid cuts. Thirty-three new collective-bargaining agreements resulted in an average 3.35% pay increase for teachers, down from 4.35% in 2009.

Workers ‘illegal’? You still have to pay them correctly

06/28/2010
Employers can’t use an employee’s undocumented status as an excuse for not paying minimum wage or overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act, as the following case shows.

How should we calculate OT when paying bonuses based on previous performance?

06/24/2010
Q. Our company pays monthly bonuses to hourly employees based on the previous month’s performance. When calculating overtime, should the bonus pay be included only for the weekly payroll that contains those bonuses, or does it change the overtime rate for other weekly pay periods as well?

Are we vulnerable to reverse discrimination claims because of our ‘early out’ program?

06/24/2010
Q. Are there any specific rules defining “early out” retirement packages offered to employees? Our company is planning to offer early outs. Our criteria mandate that an employee must have worked for us for at least 15 years and be at least 50 years old. But we have employees who have worked as long as 28 years who fail to meet the 50-year-old criterion. Is this age discrimination in a reverse sort of way?

Employees use luxury condos for $200 a week

06/24/2010

Employees of Sundance Vacations get to vacation where their customers do. The Wilkes-Barre, Pa.-based organization owns condominium units in Hawaii, Orlando, Phoenix and other sunny spots around the United States and the Caribbean. As long as a unit is unrented, any employee can use it—for $200 a week.

Tax credit helps small employers pay for health care

06/23/2010
The IRS has issued preliminary guidelines on the tax credit available to small employers that provide health insurance benefits to employees. Included in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the credit is one of the first health care reform provisions to go into effect. The credit is designed to encourage small employers to offer health insurance coverage for the first time or maintain coverage they already have.

Security check winds up costing Polo $4 million

06/21/2010
Former employees of Polo Ralph Lauren’s California stores have agreed to settle a wage-and-hour class action lawsuit for $4 million. The workers claimed store managers violated California’s labor laws by failing to pay them for time spent while they were locked in the store for 10 to 15 minutes at the end of each shift during security checks.

Can we apply a use-it-or-lose-it clause to our company’s vacation policy?

06/18/2010
Q. Our company’s employee handbook states that workers receive two weeks of paid vacation a year. Some of our employees have accrued significant amounts of unused vacation over the years. Can we require those workers to use their accrued vacation by a certain date or forfeit it?

California Supreme Court redefines ’employer’

06/18/2010
The California Supreme Court has ruled that California law on who is or is not an employee goes beyond the definition contained in the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and includes a broader measure of who is an employer.