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Wages & Hours

Warn bosses: Bankruptcy won’t stop wage claims

08/26/2009

The Fair Labor Standards Act says some managers may be held personally liable for unpaid wages, independent of the company’s obligation to pay. Not even a company bankruptcy halts individual liability.

California Supreme Court limits wage-and-hour litigation

08/26/2009

Here’s a bit of good news from the Supreme Court of California: The court has ruled that labor unions can’t intercede for union members to sue employers for missed meal and rest breaks under the state’s unfair competition law or the private attorney general statute.

Conoco workers won’t get class-action status in W&H suit

08/26/2009

A federal judge recently refused to certify a class-action suit in which workers at several California refiners sought to jointly sue ConocoPhillips Co. for failing to provide meal periods.

Probation officer sues L.A. County for unpaid overtime

08/26/2009

Deputy probation officer Timothy Bentley is suing the Los Angeles County Probation Department, claiming that the county had a “pattern and practice of refusing to pay overtime” to deputy officers in the Suitable Placement Division.

Choose one: Settlement or class-action lawsuit

08/26/2009

Guess what: You can’t press forward with a wage-and-hour class-action suit after you’ve already settled with the organization you’re suing. So said the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals when it tossed a class-action bid brought by two former T-Mobile sales reps.

What is California’s law concerning time off to attend school activities?

08/26/2009

Q. Many of our employees have children who will return to school this month. Are we required to grant these employees time off for school-related activities?

Can we recoup training costs by withholding pay from an employee’s last paycheck?

08/26/2009

Q. We’ve started requiring employees to repay (through payroll deduction) training costs if they quit or are fired within one year. Are we OK legally?

How do we compensate for out-of-town seminar?

08/26/2009

Q. How should we compensate an hourly employee for an out-of-town, two-day (9 a.m. to 5 p.m.) seminar? In particular, should we pay for the hours during the overnight hotel stay, since the employee must sleep there to be ready for the next day’s session?

Settling the case was easy, until the IRS got involved

08/25/2009

A federal district court in New Jersey recently approved a settlement in an employment discrimination case where an employee received both front pay and back pay. Hashing out the settlement figure, however, was the easy part. Both sides were confused about how to treat the pay for tax purposes. Do IRS regulations consider both front pay and back pay to be wages?

HR Specialist releases agenda for Nov. 4-6 conference in D.C.

08/20/2009

President Obama is delivering on his promise of change—particularly in the workplace-law arena. To prepare HR professionals for what’s happening—and what’s going to happen—the HR Specialist is hosting its annual Labor and Employment Law Advanced Practices Symposium (LEAP) Washington Conference Nov. 4-6.