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Compensation & Benefits

Clarify employee’s leave status the easy way: Jusk ask

06/01/2007

If your organization has a strict attendance policy, you naturally want to make sure you don’t miscount FMLA absences in the tally, or you risk an interference-with-leave lawsuit. But how are you supposed to know whether an absence is for an FMLA reason? If the employee never gives a reason for an absence or simply says he or she is sick, that’s not enough to require further inquiry on your part …

Review per diem reimbursements: IRS looking closer

06/01/2007

Make sure you’re closely tracking expense reimbursements. Since the beginning of 2007, the IRS has issued a stern warning …

IRS calculators get workout: What’s the back interest on $18 million?

06/01/2007

Three executives of Rosenbaum-Cunningham International—a West Palm Beach maintenance company serving such restaurant chains as the House of Blues, Hard Rock Café and Planet Hollywood—have been indicted for defrauding the federal government out of $18 million in employment taxes …

Clients must repay taxes after payroll company commits fraud

06/01/2007

Stephen Taylor of Canton, co-owner of Marietta-based 20/20 Payroll Solutions, pleaded guilty to stealing $4 million in employee taxes from more than 100 clients during the past two years …

FLSA and Georgia law: Figuring overtime pay for commission employees

06/01/2007

Georgia’s labor code contains no overtime exemption for commission-paid employees, but the federal Fair Labor Standards Act does. Georgia employers largely follow the federal law because it’s more stringent than state law. So employees who are paid on a commission basis are exempt from overtime laws, right?…

Quickly correct payroll deduction errors to avoid gross-Negligence suits

06/01/2007

Nothing upsets employees more than opening their pay envelopes and discovering their checks are for less money than they expected. But errors do happen. When they do, it’s important to act quickly to fix the problem …

Returning company property

06/01/2007

Q. Our employee handbook states: “If you do not return a piece of property, we will withhold from your final paycheck the cost of replacing that piece of property.” One of our employees recently quit on the spot. The employee was given a termination letter that cited the employee handbook section on unreturned property. He admitted he could not find his handbook—even accused management of having it. My boss wants to almost double the actual replacement cost of the item and call it “staff time spent getting the item.” Can we do this?

7 common employee gripes (and how to silence them)

06/01/2007

$100,000 cash prize helps improve attendance, recruiting

06/01/2007

When Chicago-based Staff Management wanted to recruit more than 1,000 seasonal workers over the busy December holidays, it lured them by offering a $100,000 cash prize to a lucky employee who had perfect attendance …

Discriminatory gap in pension law creates lawsuits

06/01/2007

The Centerport Fire District will pay over $350,000 to settle an EEOC age-discrimination lawsuit filed on behalf of 22 volunteer firefighters who were denied pension credit for service after age 65 …