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Compensation & Benefits

Must we pay for unapproved overtime?

06/11/2008
Q. Our company requires employees to obtain their supervisors’ prior approval for all overtime. Our management takes the position that it does not need to pay overtime if employees don’t get approval first. My understanding is that all hours worked must be paid. Which is correct? …

Wellness Rx: Help Employees Spend Less on Prescriptions

06/10/2008
Prescription drug costs account for a huge chunk of employer-provided health care insurance premiums—and those costs are rising fast. Don’t run the risk that your workers won’t fill needed prescriptions because they can’t afford to. They’ll stay healthier if you teach them how to hunt for bargains on prescribed drugs.

Minnesota Supreme Court clarifies employer penalties

06/10/2008
The Supreme Court of Minnesota has issued a decision clarifying penalties under the Minnesota Fair Labor Standards Act (MFLSA). The ruling makes it clear that employers that don’t follow the law and don’t maintain the required wage-and-hour records may face large fines payable to the state …

No unjust enrichment claims allowed in state and federal FLSA cases

06/10/2008
Sometimes, attorneys representing disgruntled employees will try anything to make the charges stick. Now the federal district court in Minnesota has ruled that plaintiffs can’t add state unjust enrichment claims to standard overtime claims under the federal FLSA and Minnesota’s similar state law …

Sen. Anderson ‘Disappointed’ over Pawlenty’s wage veto

06/10/2008
State Sen. Ellen Anderson, who sponsored the Minimum Wage Bill in the Senate, expressed frustration with Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s veto. Anderson’s bill would have raised the minimum wage of employees at large companies to $6.75 per hour in July 2008 and $7.75 in 2009 …

Burger King caught in a whopper

06/09/2008
After years of pressure from advocacy groups, several large fast-food companies recently agreed to pay higher wages to Florida’s tomato pickers. These days, Burger King is probably wishing it had agreed, too. In a case of corporate espionage gone very bad, the Miami-based Burger King Corp. now looks not just heartless, but clueless …

Attract new college grads with signing bonuses

06/06/2008
If you’re planning to offer jobs to new college graduates this summer, you’ll be competing with a growing number of organizations that pay signing bonuses. Nearly 54% of the employers responding to the National Association of Colleges and Employers’ Job Outlook 2008 survey said they will use signing bonuses to sweeten the deal for potential hires …

Expect more scrutiny of high-Paid execs’ salaries

06/06/2008
The Securities and Exchange Commission just created an online tool that lets the public easily see how much top execs are paid at the 500 largest public U.S. companies …

Michigan firm pays 100% for health care

06/06/2008
With 350 employees, the managers at Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Fishbeck, Thompson, Carr & Huber have custom-built a health care plan based on the staff’s needs. And it pays 100% of the premiums. “Of course it’s costing us money,” says HR Director Brenda Heerdt, “but we feel that the health of our employees is very important” …

Contractor’s employees rave about wellness program

06/06/2008
One year after Herndon, Va.-based government contractor GTSI started its wellness program, half of its 665 employees participate. And on a company survey, almost 100% of them described the organization as “more than just a place to work.” …