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Wages & Hours

Are we allowed to require overtime?

01/28/2011
Q. Right now, we don’t want to hire anyone permanently and think it would be more cost effective to require our employees to work overtime instead. Can we force employees to work overtime?

SoCal fashion company owes $887K in unpaid wages, overtime

01/28/2011
Orange County’s Laundry Room Clothing had a hard time making payroll during the depths of the Great Recession. Now the men’s fashion manufacturer must make amends big time to the employees it stiffed.

Study: Paid family leave hasn’t burdened business

01/28/2011
The California Paid Family Leave Law that went into effect in 2004 hasn’t increased employer costs or hurt productivity as critics once predicted, according to a new study.

When contracting with temp or payroll services, make sure it’s clear who the real employer is

01/28/2011

Sometimes, it’s possible for an employee to have two employers. That’s often the case when a temporary service provides workers for a client, and both the temp company and the client exercise significant control over how and when the work is performed. But now there’s a new wrinkle.

New state law gives leeway on some meal, rest breaks

01/28/2011
The rules for meal and rest breaks just got a little more flexible for some California employers, following enactment of a new state law that exempts some construction workers, commercial drivers, security guards and utility workers from the state’s usual break requirements.

What are Pennsylvania’s breaks rules?

01/26/2011
Q. Is it mandatory for a nonexempt employee to take at least a 20-minute meal break after working a certain number of hours?

What is work? How the FLSA defines it

01/25/2011
It seems like a simple question: What constitutes work for which employers must pay? Yet HR pros often struggle with tricky issues such as when and how (and how much) to pay when workers are on call, commuting, traveling or receiving training. Here are the answers, straight from the U.S. Department of Labor.

Post-recessionary bonus plans: Strike a balance between risk and reward

01/25/2011

After two years of painful payroll reductions, there’s enough light at the end of the recessionary tunnel for some employers to begin considering pay raises. In many organizations, pay hikes will come in the form of variable compensation plans. Experts say two tactics can help HR pros create variable pay plans that strike a balance between risk, reward and fiscal stability.

Must we pay for restroom breaks?

01/21/2011
Q. We have a school bus driver who takes a 10-minute bathroom break before dropping off her empty bus at the depot. We’ve been deducting the minutes from her paycheck. She says she must take the break due to her medication. Do we have to pay her?

Feel free to discipline or terminate employees who insist on working unauthorized overtime

01/14/2011

Hourly employees generally know that if they work overtime, their employer has to pay them for the extra hours. That’s true, but that doesn’t mean employees can work OT whenever they feel like it. Here’s how to end unauthorized overtime: