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Wages & Hours

9 ways to manage through change: Helping employees handle the stress of tough times

07/06/2009

Layoffs, pay cuts and an uncertain economy have left many organizations with fewer employees to do the work—often for the same or less money. Not all of those employees are handling it well. Here are nine ways you can deal with economy-induced employee stress and help your employees focus on their work:

Problem Solved: Real People … Real HR Solutions, July ’09

06/26/2009

This month’s collection of real-world quick tips from American business leaders, brought to you by members of The Alternative Board.

Furloughs go white-collar: How to keep them fair and legal

06/26/2009

In past recessions, furloughs—requiring employees to take a certain number of unpaid days off—were mostly limited to blue-collar workers. But this downturn is different. In the past two years, everyone from tech firms to state government has furloughed their white-collar employees. Experts offer the following options for furloughs:

Can we prohibit employees from sharing salary information with one another?

06/26/2009

Q. Is it illegal for a company to prohibit employees from sharing salary and wage information?

Public employers not subject to some California overtime, pay rules

06/26/2009

In what may be a classic case of “do as I say, not as I do,” a California appeals court has ruled that public employers in the state don’t have to follow the same state overtime and pay rules that apply to private employers.

Should pharma reps get OT? State Supreme Court to decide

06/26/2009

The 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has asked the California Supreme Court to rule on whether pharmaceutical sales representatives are exempt under the California Labor Code. Traditionally, they have been classified as exempt.

Suit on tax credits for hiring poor workers moves forward

06/26/2009

A state court of appeals recently ruled that Richmond-based Dicon Fiberoptics adequately pleaded its claim against California’s Franchise Tax Board in a case involving a tax credit for hiring disadvantaged workers.

After cutting staff, can we require remaining employees to work overtime?

06/26/2009

Q. We recently downsized our department. As a result, the additional workload has shifted to the employees who still have jobs. Can we force those employees to work overtime?

Must we pay employees after an emergency forced us to close the office for a day?

06/26/2009

Q. We closed our offices for a day because of a phoned-in bomb threat, and we sent all our employees home. Do we need to pay them for showing up to work that day?

Minimum wage rising to $7.25; Obama calls for $9.50 by 2011

06/22/2009

Two years ago, Congress passed a three-step boost in the federal minimum wage. On July 24, the last of those increases takes effect, rising another 70 cents to $7.25 per hour. President Obama has advocated increasing the federal wage floor to $9.50 per hour by 2011.