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Wages & Hours

You must pay promised wages under the Wage Payment Act

04/28/2010

When a manager promises an employee a specific wage for doing certain work, the company is obligated to pay that wage after the employee performs the work. If the employer doesn’t pay, the employee may collect under the New Jersey Wage Payment Act.

Should we pay for employee’s drive from his home to a training seminar?

04/28/2010
Q. What if an employee drives his own car to a seminar that’s two hours away? Should he get paid for his driving time to and from the seminar, even if he leaves from home and drives straight home afterward?

Inability to work overtime doesn’t constitute disability

04/28/2010
Employees with psychological problems may claim they can’t handle the stress of working more than a regular 40-hour week. But if that’s the only restriction the employee has, he’s probably not disabled.

Independent judgment, discretion key to administrative exemption under Pa. law

04/28/2010

Under the Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act (PMWA), employees engaged in administrative work aren’t eligible to collect overtime pay. But what about employees who spend a lot of time in the field—calling on clients or prospects, for example?

Miami-Dade enacts first county ‘wage theft’ law

04/26/2010
Miami-Dade County last month became the first county in the nation to pass a “wage theft” law—and it likely won’t be the last. The ordinance says a wage-theft violation occurs when an employer fails to pay any portion of wages due to an employee. It allows the county to step in to help workers win back pay.

Even coffee-making may be compensable time

04/19/2010
The little things employees end up doing while getting ready for work can add up to a big overtime bill later. That’s because courts often see such preparatory work, even if it benefits the employee, too, as work that must be compensated. Consider this recent case involving making the morning coffee and breakfast before the start of a shift.

Can we make employee pay cost of lost BlackBerry through payroll deductions?

04/19/2010
Q. One of our employees recently took a company-issued BlackBerry with him on a business trip. The employee lost the BlackBerry while out on the town, and the company would like to have him pay for a replacement. Can we deduct the cost of a replacement BlackBerry from his paycheck?

Can we deduct from pay to replace equipment our employee damaged?

04/19/2010
Q. We have an employee whose company-provided laptop fell and broke while he was working from home. Can we deduct the cost of the computer from the employee’s paycheck?

H&R Block settles with California loan officers

04/19/2010
H&R Block will settle a lawsuit brought by former employees who alleged the tax prep company violated federal and California overtime and meal-period regulations.

Kitchen cabinet firm closes door on wage-and-hour suit

04/19/2010
A federal judge in Northern California has granted preliminary approval to a settlement reached between U.S. Remodelers Inc. and 270 current and former workers who sued the company for wage-and-hour violations.