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Wages & Hours

Appeal to 50+ staff with tailored benefits, relevant messages

01/05/2009

Organizations that appeal most to employees age 50 and older make it a point to focus recruiting efforts on that group. And they stuff their benefits packages with perks that help older employees balance work with caregiving responsibilities. Here are five best practices your organization can adopt.

Deployed employees get full pay, benefits, monthly care packages

01/05/2009

The seven Shared Technologies employees who are serving in the military in Iraq or elsewhere get a monthly reminder that they’re still members of the team at the Texas company.

Must we compensate for travel time?

01/05/2009

Q. I have an employee who has a substantial daily commute—75 miles each way. Do I have to compensate the employee for time spent traveling to and from work?

Do year-end bonuses affect pay status?

01/05/2009

Q. What effect do end-of-year bonus payments have on a nonexempt recipient’s hourly rate of pay?

What are the child labor rules?

01/05/2009

Q. I own a pizza shop. Is it legal for me to hire a 15-year-old to work in the store?

DOL cracks down on OT cases: Houston firm an early target

01/05/2009

JVA Insulation Inc. of Houston has agreed to pay $203,640 in back wages to 53 insulation installers who claimed the company had failed to pay them overtime. The DOL found that the company violated the FLSA by paying its employees on a piece-rate basis for all hours worked …

So, just how much does that guy make? Find out online

01/05/2009

Call it morbid interest born of the current economic crisis, but more and more everyday citizens want to know exactly how much Texas executives earn. To help them satisfy that curiosity, the Houston Chronicle has created a handy database …

Worker’s hour count is off—Now what?

12/31/2008

Q. We do not believe that one of our employees is keeping accurate time records of her work. Can we pay her what we believe she worked instead of what her time records show?

Court: No punitive damages for lost breaks

12/24/2008

A California appeals court has overturned a large punitive damages jury award in a case involving underpaid wages and missed meal and break periods. Had the court upheld the awards, employers would have had a whole new reason to lose sleep over inaccurate payroll records.

Offer meal breaks—and tell workers to take them

12/24/2008

California’s Labor Code provides substantial protection for hourly workers by requiring that their employers offer meal breaks during long shifts. But what happens if you tell employees when to take their meal breaks, and they don’t?