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

Payroll

Labor Dept. sues Pilgrim’s Pride in donning and doffing case

09/01/2007

The U.S. Labor Department has filed a lawsuit against Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation in Dallas in an effort to recover more than $3 million the agency claims the company owes to more than 500 former and current employees. The Labor Department claims that Pilgrim’s Pride failed to pay employees for the time they spent putting on and taking off protective clothing before the start and after the end of their shifts …

Raises to remain flat in ’08, but bonuses gain favor

08/21/2007

A trio of closely watched national salary surveys say that employers plan to dole out annual pay raises of about 3.8% in 2008. The biggest trend: Employers are devoting an increasing amount of their salary budgets to bonuses. Here’s how to keep your bonus programs fair and legal…

Can you make payroll deductions for missing company property?

08/01/2007

Texas employers frequently face problems associated with retrieving company property from disgruntled former employees. Let’s use a hypothetical scenario to answer questions on whether or when you can make payroll deductions for the missing property …

Federal Overtime Law: 4 Tips For Staying In Compliance

07/19/2007

Lawyers who want to make a quick buck are capitalizing on recent overtime class-actions that have netted millions in unpaid overtime and penalties. In fact, overtime and other unpaid-time lawsuits have become a cottage industry in the 21st century …

Don’t institute payroll deductions without employees’ consent

07/01/2007

Q. Our plant manager wants to implement a policy requiring employees to pay for lost or damaged equipment through payroll deductions. Can we do that?

Altering employee time sheets can mean personal liability

07/01/2007

If you are responsible for approving time sheets or signing off on any alterations of the reported hours worked by employees, be warned. It’s not just your organization that risks a big fine and costly litigation.

Your personal assets are also at risk …

Use discipline instead of docking pay

07/01/2007

Q. Can I dock an employee’s pay for failing to meet a production quota?

Dodging payroll tax a felony

07/01/2007

Under New York’s new Workers’ Compensation Reform law, employers who underreport payroll or misclassify employees by downplaying their duties face the same fines as companies with no workers’ comp coverage …

Texas employers to receive unemployment-Tax refunds

07/01/2007

Texas employers who had paid taxes into the Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund are set to receive approximately $320 million in refunds …

Debit cards replace unemployment checks in Texas

07/01/2007

Unemployed Texans will no longer have to cash their checks to use their benefits …