Wages & Hours

DOL clarifies employers’ obligation to pay overtime

08/25/2020

The Department of Labor has issued a Field Assistance Bulletin which clarifies your duties to nonexempts and your obligation to pay those who work unauthorized overtime.

Pandemic makes dent in salary increase plans

08/20/2020

Even in the midst of marketplace uncertainties driven by the coronavirus, most organizations are sticking with plans to increase their salary budgets for the rest of 2020. However, some raises won’t be as big as originally planned.

Beyond job cuts, pandemic reducing take-home pay

07/28/2020

U.S. employers have cut the pay of at least 4 million U.S. workers since February.

Fevered worker sent home: Is that a paid day?

07/21/2020

One of the CDC’s main workplace suggestions during the pandemic is that employers should take employees’ temperatures each day and send home anyone who has a fever (100.4 degrees and above). But if you send workers home right after they arrive, must you pay them for that day? Depending on where a business is located, you may.

Back to work with higher pay! Or maybe less

07/02/2020

Employers that need to closely manage their labor budgets face challenging times. Many have had to raise wages to ensure adequate staffing. But more money isn’t a universal solution.

Steer clear of basing pay on previous compensation

06/18/2020

Attorneys who represent employees and job applicants are starting to win equal-pay cases they might have lost in years past. They are claiming that basing a new employee’s starting pay on how much he or she earned before so perpetuates past bias that it is itself a discriminatory act.

Beware misclassifying covid-19 teleworkers

06/18/2020

The mass, covid-inspired migration from office work to telework has been surprisingly seamless for many employees and employers. But in some cases, the move has triggered wage-and-hour compliance problems that few would have anticipated.

Fiscal woes? Consider cutting pay, not jobs

06/09/2020

Increasingly, employers are skipping layoffs, which bring Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act compliance headaches and increase the risk of costly class-action lawsuits. Instead, they’re opting to cut pay and retain workers. It’s a strategy with both pros and cons.

DOL: No pause in wage-and-hour lawsuits

04/23/2020

Don’t expect a decline in lawsuits during the coronavirus pandemic. Be sure you continue to follow all your usual protocols for responding to EEOC complaints, subpoenas and other legal notices.

Snapshot: How are nonexempts recording their hours?

04/07/2020

Employees may be working remotely, but it’s still critical to accurately track nonexempt hours worked. Here’s how employers are handling that task.