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Compensation & Benefits

Collecting for damaged equipment

10/01/2007

Q. We recently terminated an employee and subsequently learned that he damaged company equipment through his own negligence. My boss wants to deduct the cost to repair the damage from his final paycheck. Is this legal? …

When employee keeps our property, can we deduct from the last paycheck?

10/01/2007

Q. If an employee quits or is terminated and refuses to return employer property—such as a pager or a cell phone—can the employer deduct the value of the property from the employee’s final paycheck? …

Insist on accurate time sheets, even if it costs you OT

10/01/2007

The Fair Labor Standards Act says employers must pay overtime to hourly employees who work more than 40 hours per week. Work time includes more than just the hours you put on the employee’s schedule—it also includes any time you “permitted” the employee to work outside the schedule. And therein lies a big overtime headache …

Gambling-Addiction defense fails Palm Beach embezzler

10/01/2007

Donna Duffer, former Palm Beach County Convention and Visitors Bureau controller, blamed a gambling addiction for her embezzlement of $1.6 million from the bureau. The theft, uncovered last fall, left the bureau’s budget in tatters and cost some staffers their jobs. Duffer stole withholdings from employee paychecks, leaving many employees holding the bag for back tax bills …

Can we mandate direct deposit?

10/01/2007

Q. To cut down on the administrative costs of issuing paychecks, my company would like to pay all its workers through a direct deposit to the bank of their choice. May we require our employees to accept their pay via direct deposit? …

Citigroup to pay $15 million for misleading retirement pitch

10/01/2007

The National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) fined Citigroup Global Markets Inc. $3 million to settle charges of using misleading sales materials during retirement seminars for BellSouth employees in North Carolina and South Carolina. NASD also ordered Citigroup to pay $12.2 million in restitution, and it suspended three brokers who conducted the seminars …

City saves pension costs, loses $1.9 million lawsuit

10/01/2007

When the city of Ecorse hired a long-time city policeman to be chief of police, it seemed like a sound move. But problems began when the mayor terminated him because he was too old …

Retirement math must comply with PDA, Title VII—For now

10/01/2007

Can employees sue for a company practice that was perfectly lawful when it was implemented but has since become illegal? Yes, according to a recent 9th Circuit Court of Appeals case in which employees complained that a company policy didn’t give them full-service credit toward their retirement benefits during their pregnancy leave …

Court certifies class action in pension calculation suit

10/01/2007

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas recently certified a class action of current and former participants and beneficiaries of a cash-balance pension plan sponsored by United Way of the Gulf Coast. The participants and beneficiaries claimed that the plan sponsor miscalculated early-retirement benefits when it switched the pension plan from a defined-benefit plan to a cash-balance plan …

Lake County learns the hard way that ‘Pre-Work’ still counts as work

10/01/2007

Lake County will be forced to defend a lawsuit filed by several corrections officers who allege the county violated federal pay rules by requiring all corrections officers to report for work 15 minutes early for roll call …