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Wages & Hours

Survive the ‘perfect storm’ by matching pay to performance

09/05/2008

If your organization has plenty of employees but not enough of the ones with the skills you need to survive the economic downturn, you’re going to have to change the way you pay them. Make three changes to weather the tempest …

How to manage pay-for-Performance in today’s harsh new business environment

09/05/2008

If your organization has plenty of employees, but not enough of the skilled workers critical to surviving a down business cycle, you’re going to have to change your compensation plan. Three changes pave the way—finally!—for a pay-for-performance system that works.

Supreme Court’s tight Ledbetter filing deadline begins to slip

09/03/2008

When the U.S. Supreme Court decided the Lilly Ledbetter case in 2007, employers were thrilled. The court ruled that employees have to move fast after being denied a promotion or experiencing some other allegedly discriminatory act. Otherwise, they lose the right to sue for sex discrimination. But now, that tight deadline is beginning to slip as federal trial courts look for ways to give employees their day in court …

Rochester paralegal’s job goes up in smoke

09/03/2008

The Supreme Court of New York, Appellate Division, upheld the firing of Karen Kridel, a former paralegal with Dibble & Miller, PC, in Rochester, for taking smoking breaks. Kridel customarily took two five-minute breaks from her work each day to smoke …

8 strategies: Make flex plans work for you

09/02/2008
Your organization wouldn’t offer flexible work arrangements such as flextime and compressed workweeks if management didn’t believe the benefits outweighed the costs. Yet surveys show that few organizations have formal and consistent policies in place to manage their flex programs.

What’s up in Washington: Minimum wage, child labor penalties

09/02/2008

Two key federal laws have changed, affecting how employers handle wage-and-hour issues. A new federal minimum wage went into effect in July, and civil penalties for child-labor law violations increased in May. Here is a summary of each development …

Calculating overtime when the workweek doesn’t correspond to pay periods

09/02/2008

Q. We pay our workers every two weeks. How should we calculate overtime? …

How to comply with Colorado’s 3 newest workplace laws

09/02/2008
The Colorado Legislature passed several laws during the most recent legislative session that will directly affect Colorado employers, and more changes may be on the way. HR professionals need to update workplace policies and procedures to comply with these new worker rights and employer obligations …

Do employees have to take meal and rest breaks?

09/02/2008
Q. I know Colorado requires employers to provide unpaid meal breaks and paid rest periods. But what if an employee is offered the meal period or rest period and prefers to continue working? Is that permitted? …

In which city is compensation the highest?

08/28/2008
Employers in the San Francisco/San Jose area pay their workers, on average, 19% above the national average, according to a new U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics survey. Other top cities: New York City (15% above); Salinas, Calif. (14%) …