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Wages & Hours

Ohio nonprofit busy as wage theft complaints rise

09/08/2009

Several employee advocacy groups are reporting more complaints of workers not getting paid for work they have performed. Many of those complaining are undocumented workers who fear being deported. Advocates say they often have to persuade illegal immigrants that wage-and-hour laws cover them, too, and that they have a right to be paid.

What can I do about an employee who refuses to work mandatory overtime?

09/08/2009

Q. Despite the recession, my business is going gangbusters. Instead of having to lay off people, I’m in the position of having to schedule lots of overtime. I have one employee, though, who is balking at having to work more than 40 hours a week. He’s really hurting my production. Do I have any recourse against this employee for refusing overtime?

Recession ‘how-to’: Cutting exempt employee pay, hours

09/08/2009

As the recession drags on, many employers have begun trimming compensation. If you plan to cut pay for exempt employees, do so with care. Handle it wrong, and you could run afoul of the Fair Labor Standards Act, the federal law governing wage-and-hour practices. The worst-case: Cutting pay and hours could turn exempt employees into nonexempt hourly workers.

Tell bosses to tell staff: No working lunches!

09/08/2009

Like most employers, you probably have a rule that tells nonexempt employees they must take their meal breaks. The rule is there to prevent FLSA violations for uncompensated work. But having the rule isn’t always enough—especially if some of your supervisors encourage employees to work during their breaks or turn a blind eye when they do.

You don’t have to pay foreign workers’ visa fees or transportation costs

09/08/2009

Employers that need seasonal employees often rely on foreign workers to fill those slots. Workers from other nations must apply for an H-2B visa before coming to the United States to work. Until now, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals had not yet decided whether expenses related to H-2B workers’ travel to the United States had to be reimbursed by the employer. It has now decided that they do not.

Can we recover the cost of a former employee’s laptop by withholding from his final paycheck?

09/08/2009

Q. An employee who recently quit has not returned a company-owned laptop computer worth more than $1,000. Can we withhold the value of the computer from the employee’s last paycheck?

9 ways to cut costs with strategic work/life & flex benefits

09/04/2009

Amid layoffs, furloughs, pay cuts and frozen salaries, most organizations are holding onto their work/life benefits during the recession. And some of them are using flextime, telework and other employee favorites as cost-cutting strategies. Here are nine ways your organization can make strategic use of work/life benefits to cut costs, save jobs and pump up employee morale during the recession.

Tracking software helps reduce overtime by 70%

09/04/2009

Overtime is lower at equipment rental chain RentalMax than it has been in a dozen years—and it’s not because of the economy. The Chicago-based firm reduced overtime by 70% by using time-tracking software …

DOL’s blueberry farm investigation bears fruit

08/28/2009

The U.S. Department of Labor has cited nine blueberry farms and 17 labor contractors for violations of child labor laws, the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA). The farms and contractors operated in Bladen and Craven counties.

Is it possible to reduce everyone’s hours without running afoul of the law?

08/28/2009

Q. In an effort to avoid laying off employees in this tough economy, our company has decided to temporarily reduce everyone’s work hours to 35 hours per week. May we?