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Payroll

Should You Give FMLA Form to ‘Ineligible’ Employee?

01/01/2006

Q. An employee who’s been employed since May is out on workers’ comp and will be for a while. Do I send her FMLA paperwork even though she hasn’t met the criteria of being employed for at least a year? It’s my understanding that I should send it to everyone that requests leave, and only after they return the paperwork should I determine if the person is, in fact, eligible. —L.P., California

Don’t complicate the paycheck pickup process

01/01/2006

Q. Once a year, we have employees show a picture ID and provide a signature that allows them to authorize someone else to pick up their paycheck for them. If an employee doesn’t provide ID and a signature, we will mail the check or hold it until he or she personally picks it up. Is this legal? —J.I., Washington, D.C.

Set clear rules on employee credit card use

12/01/2005

Q. I work for a nonprofit agency, and we plan to start using an agency credit card. But we also need a policy that covers who can use the card and when, plus some other things I haven’t thought of yet. What should the policy include? —M.M., Pennsylvania

Supreme Court: Pay employees for certain ‘walking time’

12/01/2005
Issue: Must you pay employees for time spent changing into protective gear and walking to (and from) their workstations?
Benefit/risk: The Supreme Court finally answered this long-running question, but the …

New Roth 401(k) option kicks in Jan. 1

12/01/2005
Starting Jan. 1, employers can offer Roth 401(k)s, which are a hybrid of the basic 401(k) plan and the wildly popular Roth IRA accounts. With Roth 401(k)s, employees invest taxed dollars …

Supreme Court nominee has pro-business pedigree

11/01/2005
If her legal career is any indication, Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers could be a strong advocate for business if she’s confirmed.
While Miers has never served as a judge, …

Calculate OT correctly for employees who work two jobs

11/01/2005
Issue: How do you calculate overtime pay for employees who perform two separate jobs at separate hourly rates?
Benefit: New Labor Department rulings clarify this confusing part of wage-and-hour law. …

You can track hours for exempt and nonexempt staff

10/01/2005

Q. We have mechanics who work on a straight commission basis. Do we need to track their hours? —E.D., Nevada

Don’t play ‘Name game’ with newly wed employees

10/01/2005

Q. One of our employees recently got married. She’s informally going by her new last name, but she hasn’t changed her name on her Social Security card to her married name and doesn’t plan to. We submit all payroll information using her maiden name. Do we face any liability? —L.K., Missouri

When must you pay nonexempt employees for travel?

10/01/2005
Issue: Many employers are baffled about how to pay nonexempt employees when they travel locally or on overnight trips.
Risk: Mistakes could spark anything from mild complaints to class-action lawsuits, …