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Payroll

Don’t pay for rest breaks beyond 20 minutes

07/01/2004

Q. Is it mandatory for a nonexempt employee to take at least a 20-minute meal break after working a certain number of hours? —M.M., Illinois

Choose bonus pay method and stick with it

07/01/2004

Q. Our company pays monthly bonuses to hourly employees based on the previous month’s performance. When calculating overtime, should the bonus pay be included only for the weekly payroll that contains those bonuses, or does it change the overtime rate for other weekly pay periods, as well? —A.A., Tennessee

Make Full-Day Deductions, Not Partial, for Exempt Staff

06/01/2004

Q. If an exempt employee uses all her sick time and vacation time, then takes a half day off for personal reasons, can I deduct for that half day, or does it have to be a whole day? Has that changed under the new law? —Barbara, Louisiana

Commissions count in tallying highly compensated exemption

06/01/2004

Q. I have a question about the new highly compensated exemption. I have inside salespeople and their base salary is about $40,000, but their commissions net them over $130,000 a year. Could I classify them as exempt? —Michelle, California

Give employees advance notice of pay changes

06/01/2004
Issue: Should you provide notice about commission-formula changes that could alter employees’ pay? Risk: If you rework pay formulas behind employees’ backs, you could bump up against state wage laws. …

Payroll managers typically fall in nonexempt class

06/01/2004

Q. We have a payroll manager who handles our payroll and FMLA policies. In our last audit, we were told that because her primary duty is payroll, she did not fall under the administrative exemption. Is that true? —Juliette, Florida

Labor unveils final overtime rules: What now?

05/01/2004
Issue: The Labor Department has finalized rules that redefine which employees are eligible for overtime pay. Benefit/risks: Clearer rules should cut your misclassification risks, but you face a steep learning …

How to spot warning signs of chronic absenteeism

03/01/2004
Issue: Employees who miss work frequently often show predictable patterns.
Benefit: Knowing which people are likely to avoid work can help cut costly absenteeism.
Action: Once you know how …

Beware Time-Clock Inconsistencies

02/01/2004

Q. Our employees punch in 15 minutes or less before their warehouse shifts begin. We pay them starting at their scheduled start time. Also, our employees are scheduled for 30-minute lunch breaks, but some punch in and out for lunch within 10 or 15 minutes. Our company pays the full lunch time, regardless of what is punched. Is this OK? —J.W., Indiana

Labor readies final overtime rule; Congress steps out of the way

01/01/2004
Opponents in Congress recently dropped their opposition to the Labor Department’s proposed rules that redefine which employees qualify for overtime pay.
That clears the way for Labor to release the …