• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

Wages & Hours

Meat packer, staffing firm settle with Muslim workers

12/09/2008

St. Cloud-based Gold’n Plump has agreed to pay $215,000 to a group of Somali Muslim workers to settle a religious discrimination lawsuit brought by the EEOC. The company also granted the workers an extra paid break for prayer during the second half of each shift.

With flu season approaching, can we force employees to stay home from work?

12/09/2008

Q. Flu season is coming and we are concerned. If employees have the flu or show flu symptoms, can we require them to stay home long enough to make sure they are no longer contagious? Would we have to pay them for time away?

Encourage organ donations by offering extra days off

12/08/2008

Offering an extra three to 30 days of paid leave to employees who donate bone marrow or organs could improve your organization’s reputation as a company that cares about its community. Less than half of 1% of those who register as potential donors will ever be called to give, so the benefit will cost your organization very little.

10 ways Generation Y will change the workplace

12/08/2008

There’s no doubt Generation Y will fundamentally change corporate America. It’s already started. Managing Gen Y is a hot topic among consultants, HR executives and talent management professionals. For a Gen Y’er like me, this is great news. We’re primed to change the workplace for the better. Here’s how we’ll do it.

Construction firm employees help each other in emergency

12/08/2008

When a TD Industries employee gets into a financial bind because of an emergency, colleagues pitch in to help out via payroll deductions. The Dallas-based construction firm allows employees to donate paid leave and money on a regular basis or in response to an isolated situation.

By The Numbers: Top executive pay down 4%

12/08/2008

A cynic might say a 4% average earnings decline isn’t enough, but at least the highest-paid executives in America’s publicly traded corporations are feeling some of the pain of the financial meltdown.

Headmaster gets nearly $1 million in retaliation case settlement

12/08/2008

Lake Ridge Academy in North Ridgeville agreed to pay $950,000 after a federal jury found that it fired James Whiteman in retaliation for expressing concerns about possible pay inequities at the private school.

How frequently must employees be paid? What’s the rule on final paychecks?

12/08/2008

Q. How often do I have to pay my employees? Are there any rules that require payment upon termination within a specific time period?

Election Day was an attendance nightmare! Must we allow time off to vote?

12/08/2008

Q. Because of the long lines on Election Day, some employees missed hours of work. In the future, do I have to permit employees to take time off to vote?

Don’t let fines, tool costs undercut base wage

12/05/2008

Watch out if you ever fine employees, force them to pay others to perform work they can’t finish or make them provide their own equipment. Those expenses may cause them to earn less than the minimum wage.