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Wages & Hours

FLSA doesn’t cover claims for distress, punitive damages

01/07/2011

Employees who win Fair Labor Standards Act lawsuits over wage-and-hour violations can only collect damages based on concrete and real losses. They can’t collect emotional or punitive damages on top of other damages.

Exemptions change: Review duties each year

01/05/2011
As employees’ duties change, make sure you regularly update their job descriptions to reflect realities on the ground. Then use those job descriptions to see if they are still properly classified under the FLSA. Don’t rely on an analysis that’s even a couple of years old. As this case shows, even an analysis provided by the DOL isn’t safe.

Snow day pay: Can we dock for tardiness, no shows?

12/23/2010
Q. We dock hourly employees who arrive late for work, but not our exempt employees. There’s quite a bit of resentment about this policy, especially since over time our exempt employees have been extending the time it takes them to get to work during inclement weather. We know we can’t dock exempt employees if they make it in during snow days, but can we discipline them?

What should we do? We’ve been lax about breaks

12/21/2010
Q. I am the HR director for a large company. We recently realized that we have not been providing nonexempt employees with any breaks during the day (other than a lunch break). What should we do?

Lights, camera, contract! Actors unions weigh new agreement

12/21/2010
The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) have announced that they recently reached a tentative agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the largest Hollywood producers’ group.

Coincidence–not conspiracy–explains wage decrease

12/21/2010
When the California Legislature reinstated rules requiring overtime pay for work in excess of eight hours per day back in 1999, some employers thought their labor budgets would skyrocket. Some hospitals found ways to reduce OT costs, either by eliminating 12-hour shifts altogether or simply reducing the hourly pay for those nurses that worked the extended shifts. After more than a decade, a lawsuit over the reductions has been decided.

Disabled worker can’t do OT: Can we lay her off?

12/16/2010
Q. We’ve been accommodating a disabled employee by letting her skip overtime. Her doctor says she needs extra sleep. But now we need to lay off several employees and start requiring mandatory overtime. Can we terminate those employees who can’t do overtime? That would include the disabled employee.

DOL teams up with private lawyers to encourage FMLA, FLSA lawsuits

12/14/2010
The DOL has unveiled a first-of-its-kind arrangement: an attorney-referral partnership with the American Bar Association to help more employees file FMLA and FLSA lawsuits. Find details on this new program, as well as links to HR Specialist resources that can keep you from becoming a target of this looming legal dragnet.

11 for ’11: Big trends shaping comp & benefits

12/13/2010
Pay-for-performance and higher employee health care contributions look like they’ll remain fixtures of the post-recession comp and benefits landscape. Here are 11 other trends that could take a firm hold in 2011:

St. Louis Metro workers settle pre-, post-work OT suit

12/09/2010
Reservation clerks and dispatchers for the St. Louis Metro mass transit system have settled an overtime dispute for $175,000. The money will be split among approximately 100 workers. The St. Louis Metro serves the city and suburbs in Missouri and Illinois.