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Compensation & Benefits

You’re free to adjust benefit plan without fear of FMLA suit

07/01/2002
When it merged with another bank, Wells Fargo replaced its traditional employee sick- and vacation-leave policy with a paid-time-off (PTO) program and a short-term disability plan. A PTO policy combines annual …

Employees can use vacation time toward one-year FMLA eligibility

07/01/2002
Robert Ruder began working in management at a Maine hospital on Jan. 5, 2000. Exactly one year later, he left work for unspecified medical reasons. His employer denied his request for …

Eligibility for Holiday Pay Is Your Call

07/01/2002

Q. Is there a law that states the number of hours necessary to be considered full time for being eligible for paid holidays? Our handbook says an employee who works fewer than 40 hours a week is considered part time. An employee who works 34 hours a week wonders if he should be eligible for paid holidays. Our handbook says he’s not. Is that OK? —B.D., Michigan

Avoid Two-Tier Benefit Policy

07/01/2002

Q. We offer all employees two weeks’ paid vacation a year. If an employee chooses a 100-percent, full-commission pay structure, how should we set her pay for vacation? The employee wants to take her annual pay divided by 52 weeks, but we feel that’s unfair to the employees who are on salary plus commission, because their vacation pay is based on their base salary divided by 52 weeks. Is there a correct and legal way to figure this? —R.D., Florida

New wage and hour threat: ‘Donning and doffing’ crackdown

07/01/2002
The government is going after em-ployers that don’t pay workers for time spent putting on and taking off required work clothes and protective gear. In one of the largest settlements …

Rules of the road: Know when to pay for travel time

07/01/2002
Employers know they don’t have to pay Joe Worker for his typical commute into the office. But pay-for-travel questions …

Be Wary of Firing Overpaid Employee

07/01/2002

Q. Is it legal to terminate an employee because he makes a high salary? —J.L., Arizona

Be Cautious in Requiring Payment From ‘Short’ Cashier

07/01/2002

Q. Management wants to institute a policy that requires cashiers whose registers are short at night’s end to replace the disputed amount out of their own pockets. Does this violate the law? —B.B., New York

Use new weapon to fight class-action wage suits

07/01/2002
It’s no secret that wage-and-hour class action lawsuits, in which mobs of employees sue for unpaid overtime, have skyrocketed. They can be enormously expensive. But a California appeals court ruling gives …

Teen work: Heed strict limits on hours, conditions

07/01/2002
THE LAW. Teens are a great source of labor, especially during the summer. But the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) sets strict limits on the hours they can work and …