• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

Wages & Hours

Unpaid interns teach some employers a costly lesson

08/12/2010

For employers and job-seekers alike, unpaid internships seem like an attractive option. But internships come with risks. Before you begin taking on interns, do a thoughtful and careful analysis to make sure state and federal law allows you to classify an individual as an unpaid intern rather than a paid employee.

Must we pay workers who have been suspended?

08/06/2010
Q. We recently sent an employee home for not following his supervisor’s instructions. Do we have an obligation to pay him for the full day regardless? How should we handle this situation in the future? Is this considered administrative leave?

Must breastfeeding breaks be ‘paid’ time?

08/05/2010
Q. We have an employee who will be returning from maternity leave next month. I read that the new law requires us to provide time for her to pump milk. Do we have to pay her for those breaks?

How to comply with new lactation break and facility rules

07/23/2010
Hidden deep within the recently enacted health care reform legislation is a provision that garnered neither debate nor controversy in the media or the halls of Congress. The law amends the FLSA to require large employers to provide lactation breaks and facilities for employees who are breastfeeding.

Can we discipline exempt workers for attendance?

07/22/2010
Q. We require all employees to be in by 9 a.m. One of our exempt employees is constantly late. Can we discipline exempt employees for poor attendance?

How much can tip credits offset our minimum wage obligations?

07/20/2010
Q. We have always paid our waiters less than the minimum wage because of the tips they earn. Are we permitted to count tips as part of the minimum wage as long as we notify our employees of this practice and their actual tips equal or exceed the tip credit?

How can we manage conflicting vacation requests?

07/20/2010
Q. We are a small company. Two of our employees in the same department have asked to take vacation at the same time. We’re afraid that we will be short-staffed if both employees are out at the same time. Can we institute a policy preventing employees from being out simultaneously?

State home health care aides can file wage class action

07/20/2010
A group of in-home health care aides who claim the state illegally reduced their wages can file a class-action lawsuit, following a ruling by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. According to the workers, who are part of the state’s In-Home Support Services (IHSS) program, California violated federal law when it cut state employees’ pay in an effort to balance the state budget.

$4.2 million settlement in parking lot wage case

07/20/2010
Chicago-based Standard Parking Corp. recently settled a wage-and-hour lawsuit brought by current and former California parking attendants, valets and cashiers. The company will pay more than $4 million to some 7,100 employees.

Farm workers would get OT sooner if bill passes

07/20/2010
A bill that would give California farm workers overtime pay for working fewer hours per week was recently approved in the state Senate. The bill, S.B. 1211, would allow farm workers to receive overtime pay for working more than 40 hours in a week, down from the current 60-hour threshold.