Wages & Hours

Variable pay is where workers will get bigger bucks

10/25/2011

While employers are budgeting 2.9% more for base pay in 2012, 92% plan to distribute performance-based bonuses, according to an Aon Corp. survey of 1,500 companies.

Outback’s tip policy: No rules, just wrong

10/12/2011

Outback Steakhouse has agreed to pay $1.25 million to Minnesota employees to remedy what servers at the restaurant chain said was an illegal tip-pooling procedure under state law.

FLSA administrative exemption doesn’t require employee to meet all examples in regulation

10/11/2011

Here’s some good news for employers that classify workers as exempt under the FLSA’s administration exemption: Contrary to what some attorneys have been attempting to argue, employees don’t have to perform all the functions listed in the DOL regulations, just one.

Utah turns out the lights on 4-day workweek

10/06/2011

In 2008, Utah launched a “4/10” workweek for state workers—10-hour days from Monday through Thursday—in a bid to cut costs and conserve energy. But the state scrapped its grand experiment last month, saying it wasn’t saving as much as expected.

Beware seeking exemptions under Motor Carrier Act

10/04/2011

Some employers think they can classify truck drivers as exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act by relying on the federal Motor Carrier Act. But that’s tricky. To be covered by the MCA, the drivers must cross state lines while doing their jobs.

Beware the tipping point: Setting up tip pool often requires expert legal advice

10/04/2011

Restaurants that use tip pools and rely on the tip credit to justify paying their employees $2.13 per hour rather than the minimum wage of $7.25 per hour often grapple with which employees can be included in the pool. It’s not always clear.

What are the rules on setting a late policy?

10/03/2011

Q, We would like to institute a rule subjecting employees to discipline for clocking in late. Are we permitted to do this even though we round our employees’ time to the nearest quarter-hour?

What can we do about an employee who racked up hours of unauthorized overtime?

09/28/2011

Q. We orally warned an employee not to work overtime. Recently, he claimed to have worked 56 hours straight, eating and sleeping only on regular break times. The timecards say he was here, but we don’t have any night staff, so we can’t verify if he was actually at work. Is there anything we can do?

Feds offer partial amnesty for contractor misclassification

09/27/2011

If you’ve been worried that some of your workers may be incorrectly classified as independent contractors, but leery about opening a legal can of worms to fix potential problems, Uncle Sam is offering to cut you a break. Learn about a new program designed to help you get your records in order—and avoid penalties.

End the silence: The case against secret salaries

09/21/2011

It’s a golden rule in most businesses: Salaries must be kept secret. It’s almost universally accepted that mayhem would ensue in the workplace if people knew what their co-workers, their managers or—gasp—the CEO was making. Three major reasons why secret salaries are silly, according to consultant Alexander Kjerulf: