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Compensation & Benefits

Audit your classifications before requiring overtime

04/01/2003

Q. What are the legal ramifications of requiring all employees to work a minimum of 45 hours a week (nine hours a day)? Everyone in the office is an exempt employee. —S.M., New Jersey

Don’t Require Direct Deposit

04/01/2003

Q. Can a business require employees to use direct deposit of paychecks? —N.C., Kansas

Hiring summer interns? Keep it legal, dude

04/01/2003
Expect a bumper crop of eager interns this summer, thanks in part to the still-struggling economy. While internships can be a win/win situation for employers and students, …

Look at job duties, not signed pact, to decide employee/contractor status

03/01/2003
What if your independent contractors wake up tomorrow and decide they actually should be considered employees? Too many companies think they’ve got a bulletproof …

PWBA’s new name won’t affect your benefit paperwork

03/01/2003
The Labor Department’s Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration (PWBA) changed its name last month to the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA). But …

It’s OK to Offer Incentive to Drop Health Coverage

03/01/2003

Q. Due to rising premiums, our company is looking into alternatives to reduce our group health benefit costs. Several employees are on our plan and their spouses’ plan. They are willing to go off our group plan if we compensate them “x” amount of dollars each month. Is it legal to offer the medical insurance benefit or a cash alternative? —S.P., Michigan

Safeguard your health data: HIPAA rules kick in April 14

03/01/2003
Reminder: If your company sponsors an employee benefit plan, it likely has to comply with new privacy standards under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act’s …

Simple pain complaint doesn’t count as FMLA notice.

03/01/2003
A worker who previously fractured his coccyx told his boss he was “in pain from his tailbone” and needed to go to the doctor that day. Although the boss told him …

Fast fix to FLSA error can save you, but ‘correction window’ closes fast

03/01/2003
If you screw up on a Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) pay issue, don’t count on the “window of corrections” to save you. Sure, this Labor Department rule allows you to …

Focus on tangible perks to retain best workers

02/01/2003
Are HR professionals in tune with their employees’ wants and needs? Not exactly, suggests a survey of more than 1,000 employees and HR professionals by USA Today …