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Compensation & Benefits

Stubble trouble: Can you fire unshaven employees?

08/21/2008
Do any of your employees look like they’ve just crawled out of a suitcase? A court recently addressed this question: If an employee is fired for ignoring his boss’s demands to get a shave, does that count as “misconduct” that disqualifies him from unemployment benefits? …

Workers’ comp for off-Site accidents during breaks?

08/21/2008
Q. Some of our employees leave the premises during their 10-minute breaks during the day. If they get into accidents, is the company at risk? — G.F., Colorado …

You won’t work Sundays?! EEOC guide explains religious accommodations

08/21/2008

Title VII prohibits employers from discriminating against employees and applicants based on their religion. The EEOC recently published guidance to help employers deal with employees’ religion-based questions regarding time off, free speech, religious clothing and more …

Dealing with negative leave balances

08/21/2008
Q. I know I must pay exempt employees their full salaries even if they have no accrued benefits in their leave plans and their accounts have negative balances. But can I keep negative balance tallies and then subtract the negative balances as the employees earn more leave? — T.C., Virginia …

Employ teens? Child-Labor fines, enforcement on the rise

08/21/2008
Buried in the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) that President Bush signed this year was a little-noticed provision that substantially increased the potential fines against employers that violate federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) child-labor laws. If employees under age 18 are killed or seriously hurt due to an FLSA child-labor violation, employers can now face a $50,000 fine for each violation

GAO pokes a stick at Wage & Hour auditors, waking them up for more aggressive OT probes

08/21/2008

A recent GAO report sharply criticized the Bush administration for mishandling overtime, back-pay and final-paycheck complaints filed by U.S. employees. The report said U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage & Hour Division auditors often failed to thoroughly investigate claims …

DOL: Employees must be paid for time worked, even if they violate mandatory meal-Break policy

08/21/2008
Work time is paid time. Period. You still must pay employees even if they work through a company-mandated meal break without a supervisor’s approval, according to a new U.S. Department of Labor opinion letter released July 29 …

The HR I.Q. Test: September ’08

08/21/2008
Test your knowledge of recent trends in employment law, comp & benefits and other HR issues with our monthly mini-quiz …

5 Steps for Communicating Benefits Changes

08/19/2008

As your organization shifts more responsibility to employees to manage their own health and retirement expenses, you risk alienating your work force. But it doesn’t have to be that way …

Firing OK if FMLA return date isn’t honored

08/19/2008
When an employee goes out on FMLA leave, set a return date and stick to it. If she doesn’t show up back to work and doesn’t ask for an extension or a reasonable accommodation under the ADA, you are free to terminate her, effective at the end of the leave …