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Payroll

Plan any deductions for personal calls

11/01/2000

Q. We allow employees to use their company-issued cell phones for personal purposes up to a certain number of minutes every month. A recently discharged employee exceeded her monthly allotment. Can we recoup the cost of these extra minutes by withholding the amount from her last check? —P.P., South Carolina

Management meeting counts as work time

11/01/2000

Q. Last week, we asked a nonexempt employee to come in 30 minutes before her regular start time to talk to her about a complaint that had come to our attention. Do we have to pay her for the time spent in discussions with management? —G.B., Kentucky

Extra travel time counts as work time

10/01/2000

Q. One of our executives will be making day trips once a week to New York from Washington, D.C., for a special assignment, and her secretary will be accompanying her. The secretary’s regular workday is 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The trips will require the secretary to arrive at the airport by 7:30 a.m., and she’ll be back in Washington by 8 p.m. Do we have to compensate the nonexempt secretary for her travel time to and from New York? —L.L., Washington, D.C.

Go the distance to deliver final paycheck

09/01/2000

Q. Over the last six months, we have made several attempts to mail a former employee her last paycheck by certified mail. We believe that we have the correct address because we mailed her other items by regular mail during this period and none have been returned. What legal obligations do we have, if any, to get this check to her? —R.Y., Washington, D.C.

State may let you force worker to foot the bill for your error

08/01/2000
For two years, Batteries Plus was erroneously generous with one of its employees’ paychecks. Clinton Mohr had been receiving mileage reimbursements …

Don’t miss SIMPLE deadline

08/01/2000
If you have 100 or fewer employees, you can set up an uncomplicated retirement plan called a SIMPLE (Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees). But there are a couple of key …

Pay former workers promptly; don’t wait for them to ask

07/01/2000

Audra Wales called in sick to the Wendy’s restaurant where she worked on Jan. 11 and then showed up later that day to pick up her regular paycheck. During a dispute …

Congress clarifies: Stock options are benefits, not pay

07/01/2000
If you give stock options to nonexempt workers, don’t worry that the additional compensation will drive up their overtime pay. President Clinton has signed legislation …

Limits on payroll deductions

07/01/2000

Q. An employee has not returned our calls or come to work at our hotel for over a week. She has a set of office keys and owes money for laundry. Can I hold her check until she returns the keys or pays for her laundry? Alternatively, can I deduct the cost of replacing the keys and laundry from her last paycheck? —I.C., Maryland

Recover training costs

07/01/2000

Q. Can we require an employee to sign an agreement to reimburse the company for half the expenses related to training, if the employee resigns within six months? —S.D., Northern Marianas