Payroll

Can we require repayment of moving expenses if a new employee quits?

08/22/2008

Q. Our company plans to hire a manager who will move to North Carolina from out of state. We will pay her moving expenses. Can we recoup those payments if she quits after moving here? …

Is it permissible to recover education reimbursements from final paychecks?

08/22/2008

Q. Our company has a program that reimburses employees for work-related educational programs. However, if the employee leaves the company within one year of the reimbursement payment, the employee must repay the company. Can we take this repayment out of the employee’s final paycheck? …

Can we withhold pay from workers who clock in early?

08/19/2008

Q. Some of our nonexempt employees occasionally begin work before their established starting times. We’ve always paid them for this time, but I’ve recently read that Georgia employers don’t have to pay an employee for such time if the early start was not approved in advance. Is this true? …

The ‘multiplier effect’: How small wage-and-hour violations cost big

08/15/2008

For California employers, even minor wage-and-hour violations can wind up costing employers millions of dollars. Blame it on California’s infamous “multiplier effect,” which can come into play in any wage-and-hour case, but which really adds up in class-action suits …

Keep exact timecards, or court will use worker’s estimate

08/13/2008

Here’s an incentive to make sure you account for every hour your nonexempt employees work: If an employee claims you didn’t pay her what you were supposed to, and you don’t have accurate time records, the court will calculate what you owe based on the number of hours the employee tells the court she worked …

Must we provide time off to attend the Republican National Convention?

08/12/2008

Q. An employee who has used all his paid time off has asked for a leave of absence to attend the Republican National Convention. He is a delegate. Are we required to grant the leave? …

Can we withhold accrued vacation pay if employee doesn’t give two weeks’ notice?

08/12/2008

Q. Our company policy is to not pay an employee for unused vacation time if the employee resigns without giving the required two weeks’ notice. A former employee has challenged this policy and is threatening to take the company to court. Is this policy lawful? …

Employees, IRS challenge FedEx’s driver classifications

07/28/2008

Present and former FedEx Ground/Home Delivery drivers are eligible to join a class-action suit that challenges the company’s long-standing practice of classifying drivers as independent contractors. The suit—which more than 27,000 drivers could join—argues that they are employees …

We overpaid! Can we get the money back?

07/25/2008

Q. My company accidentally overpaid two employees last pay period. How may we recoup that overpayment? …

Contractor decision costs FedEx $319 million as class action grows

07/24/2008

Official class notices were sent out in June to 27,165 present and former FedEx delivery drivers in the multidistrict lawsuit challenging the company’s independent contractor model. The court certified class-action status for drivers from 19 states, including Pennsylvania …