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Compensation & Benefits

Court: Pay worker for post-shift security check

05/25/2010
Best Buy recently agreed to a $902,000 class-action settlement that resolves claims that the company didn’t pay workers in New York stores for minutes spent going through security check lines at the end of their shifts.

Can we require employees to use accrued paid leave instead of FMLA leave?

05/24/2010
Q. One of our supervisors needs time off to undergo medical treatment. Instead of FMLA leave, may we require him to use accrued vacation for the time he will miss?

What documentation do we need to hire minors as seasonal employees?

05/24/2010
Q. We would like to hire several high school students to work in our retail store for the summer. Do we need to take any extra steps in our hiring process if we want to employ minors?

Duplicate systems led to OT shortages, university worker says

05/24/2010

An enrollment counselor is suing the online University of Phoenix for unpaid overtime, and wants to expand her lawsuit to include everyone else who worked as enrollment counselors in California over the past three years. Diane Adoma claims the university deliberately underpaid for overtime hours.

Health Net heads to court to fight wage-and-hour lawsuit

05/24/2010
A former customer service rep at Health Net Inc., a nationwide health maintenance organization based in Woodland Hills, is suing the company for requiring off-the-clock work … and she’s trying to turn the Fair Labor Standards Act suit into a class action that could involve hundreds of workers.

You don’t carry workers’ comp insurance? Prepare to face negligence lawsuits

05/24/2010

The workers’ compensation insurance system is based on the premise that employees hurt at work will recover lost wages without having to prove who was at fault for an injury. Employers that don’t carry workers’ comp insurance may be sued directly for negligence—and that means injured workers could win far higher awards for damages.

Walmart must defend against largest wage-and-hour class action in U.S. history

05/24/2010

Recently, the largest class-action lawsuit in U.S. history was given the go-ahead. Employers nationwide are waiting with bated breath to find out what happens to Walmart. While the exact number of employees who may find themselves part of the lawsuit is still unclear, it could reach well over 1 million women employed or formerly employed at 3,400 Walmart stores across the country.

Go beyond ‘benefits brain dump’: Educate year-round

05/21/2010

For too many employers, “benefits education” consists of dropping an annual benefits statement in front of the workers and saying, “See you next year.” However, a new Hewitt Associates survey says U.S. workers’ biggest complaint about their employee benefits isn’t cost or access—it’s that employees don’t understand the benefits they already have. Here are inexpensive ways HR can educate employees year-round:

Add new health insurance numbers to your W-2s

05/21/2010
Beginning in the 2011 tax year, employers will be required to report the “aggregate cost” of “applicable employer-sponsored coverage” on their employees’ W-2 forms.

Vacationing worker got flu: Can she call it sick leave?

05/20/2010
Q. One of our employees got the flu while she was out on vacation leave. Now she wants her vacation time back and wants to call those “sick days” instead. Do we have to let her change the status of this leave time?