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Wages & Hours

Beware legal risk of raising employee’s title in lieu of pay

09/09/2010

With nervous employers still keeping generous raises on the shelf, more companies are turning to job title promotions to show their appreciation. The risk: The titles themselves don’t reflect the duties of the position and required expertise, which can cause difficulty separating exempt and non-exempt employees.

What can we do about an employee who has been blasting us on his personal web site?

09/08/2010
Q. One of my employees has created his own web site and has been posting negative comments about our company. Specifically, he has accused the company of failing to provide adequate benefits and paying below-market wages. Can we fire this worker for this conduct?

Can we shuffle hours between weeks to avoid OT?

09/06/2010
Q. Employees at our construction company sometimes work more than 40 hours in one week, but far fewer than 40 the next. We have been transferring the extra hours to the next week. Can we do this?

For hourly employees, unauthorized extra time counts toward FMLA eligibility

09/01/2010

Employees have to work at least 1,250 hours in a year to qualify for FMLA leave. They also must have been employed for a total of one year. Thus, while many part-time employees may qualify for FMLA leave, others won’t because they haven’t met those thresholds. But now some hourly employees and their attorneys are trying a new approach.

What are the laws on correcting timecards?

08/27/2010
Q. We use a timecard punch-in/punch-out system. If an employee forgets to punch in, and we manually do it, do any labor laws apply?

Is pay required for after-hours work functions?

08/27/2010
Q. Can we require full-time nonexempt employees to attend work-related functions after regular hours? If so, should this time be compensated?

Partner or employee? Degree of control matters

08/25/2010
If yours is a business engaged in professional practices like law, medicine or accounting, your organization may have partners or shareholders who receive paychecks. Know that such shareholders probably can’t sue for discriminatory practices under Title VII and other anti-discrimination and employment laws.

Have lawyer review California wage statements

08/23/2010

California is a great state—for employees who want to sue their employers. Even the wage statements employees get with their paychecks can lead to lawsuits. Advice: Have your attorney take a look at those pay stubs to make sure they comply with California wage-and-hour laws.

What are the new regulations on paying for time employees spend changing clothes?

08/18/2010
Q. How has the recent DOL interpretation letter addressed an employer’s obligation to pay employees for time spent changing clothes?

Military leave starts Tuesday: Pay for full week?

08/18/2010
Q. One of our exempt employees is in the Reserve. He is going on a two-week training session that starts on a Tuesday. That means he will work on Monday, the start of our week. Do we have to pay him for the whole week when he is only going to be here Monday?