• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

Compensation & Benefits

Ink’s barely dry on minimum wage hike, but some in Washington want to go higher

09/01/2007

Congress this year pushed the federal minimum wage up to $5.85 per hour, with 70-cent jumps planned for the next two summers. But some lawmakers want to keep that mojo working. A group of Democrats, led by Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., are proposing to push the federal minimum to $9.50 per hour starting in 2009 …

Tech firm learns the hard way: Don’t switch employees to exempt once they hit a pay threshold

09/01/2007

Aerospace contractor Ball Corp. agreed to pay out almost $1 million to 900 employees to settle a U.S. Labor Department complaint. The problem: The company switched top-tier hourly workers to exempt status once employees reached the top of the hourly pay scale. They were also required to work through lunch without pay …

When to pay for travel time in company car

09/01/2007

Q. We provide certain hourly employees with a vehicle to drive to and from job sites. Employees are required to pick up the vehicle at our offices by 6 am. After working at various job sites, they’re required to bring the vehicle back to the office at day’s end. Should the drive time from the final job site back to the office be compensated? —M.R., Arizona …

How to deal with unauthorized overtime

09/01/2007

Q. We have a “no overtime without approval” policy. If employees put down overtime on their time sheets, do we have to pay it if the extra time isn’t approved? —A.W., Oregon …

You Don’t Have to Pay Employees for ‘Uncontrolled’ On-Call Time

09/01/2007

Under California law, you don’t have to pay employees for on-call time unless you “control” how they spend that time. If you structure their responsibilities properly, you don’t have to pay them for every hour they’re on call. You can even pay them a flat fee for their on-call shifts. The key is the amount of freedom you give the employees to choose how they spend their time while waiting for your call. The more time they can spend on personal activities, the better …

Ignoring lawsuits can cost employers big bucks

09/01/2007

Nothing makes a former employee’s attorney sing for joy more than an employer that ignores a lawsuit. In fact, when employers ignore lawsuits and hope they will go away, it’s almost certain the attorney—and the employee the attorney represents—will have a fast and easy payday. That’s why you should immediately contact counsel with any legal papers that come your way …

Without clause, employers can’t escape paying full wages

09/01/2007

When it comes to employment contracts, it’s wise to include an escape clause. Here’s why: If you don’t specify that you can terminate the contract early and then find yourself having to eliminate the employee, you may have to pay that employee the full amount he or she would have earned working the entire term of the contract …

East Point car dealer shoots, kills two who requested raises

09/01/2007

A suburban Atlanta car dealer has confessed to fatally shooting his two sole employees because they asked for raises. Rolandas Milinavicius opened RM Auto International in East Point two years ago to export American cars to his native Lithuania. Fed up with his employees’ frequent demands for more money, Milinavicius said he snapped on the morning of July 31 when they approached him for a raise …

Judge reverses decision after Labor Dept. issues opinion letter

09/01/2007

A federal judge has overturned his earlier decision in a Fair Labor Standards Act case involving several women who had been hired to sell houses in a new subdivision. The women claimed Brayson Homes owed them overtime and minimum wages …

Ball Aerospace picks up $593,092 lunch tab for nonexempt employees

09/01/2007

Ball Aerospace and Technologies will pay $976,327 to 904 employees in Colorado, New Mexico, Ohio, Georgia and the District of Columbia for unpaid wages. Ball, a Broomfield, CO-based aerospace defense contractor, operates a facility in the city of Warner Robins supporting Robins Air Force Base …