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Wages & Hours

Can we switch a salaried employee to hourly to deal with pregnancy-related absences?

08/01/2008

Q. Our office manager, who is pregnant, has begun coming in late two or three times a week due to morning sickness. Because she is a salaried employee, we know that we cannot deduct from her wages for partial-day absences. Can we change her position to one that is paid on an hourly basis until she returns from her maternity leave? …

Can we refuse to pay employees who work unauthorized overtime hours?

08/01/2008
Q. Our policy prohibits employees from working overtime without specific written authorization from their supervisor. Our policy manual provides that employees will not be compensated for overtime hours worked unless they comply with this policy. Can we legally refuse to pay our employees for unauthorized overtime? …

Equality the Hard Way: Women’s Employment, Pay Decreasing

07/29/2008
The economy’s current slowdown—following seven years of growth—is erasing two decades of progress for working women. Women historically have weathered recessions relatively well. A new congressional report says that trend ended in the fourth quarter of 2007, as both employment rates and pay began to fall.

What to do when employee is caught stealing

07/25/2008
Q. While a manager at one of our locations was on vacation, we performed an audit of her books and discovered that she had written unauthorized checks to herself totaling $25,000. We intend to confront her and terminate her. What else should we do? …

We overpaid! Can we get the money back?

07/25/2008
Q. My company accidentally overpaid two employees last pay period. How may we recoup that overpayment? …

OK to refuse to pay unauthorized overtime?

07/25/2008
Q. We have a company policy forbidding unauthorized overtime in a workweek. May I refuse to pay overtime to an employee who works overtime without authorization? …

Employees, IRS challenge FedEx’s driver classifications

07/22/2008
Current and former FedEx Ground/Home Delivery drivers are eligible to join a class-action suit that challenges the company’s long-standing practice of classifying drivers as independent contractors. The suit—which more than 27,000 drivers could join—argues that they are employees …

Gas pains: Compressed workweek can help workers manage high prices

07/22/2008
Employees across the country are finding their budgets stretched by rising gas prices, and that means employers are feeling pressured by the pump, too. Companies are struggling to find ways to help workers deal with high prices without raising pay. One of the most popular ways employers are dealing with the problem is to implement a compressed workweek …

HEART Act Adds Retirement, Pay Benefits for Reservist Employees

07/22/2008
The HEART Act is a new federal law that expands the retirement and pay benefits to which employees called to active military service are entitled. If you administer your organization’s retirement plan or work with payroll, you need to know about the law’s provisions. Our primer will get you started.

Recoup training costs, but beware doing so with last paycheck

07/18/2008
Employers can and should get applicants and employees to agree to pay back training costs if they depart before the company gets fair value. But collecting the money can be tricky. You can’t, for example, withhold the money out of a final paycheck if that move takes the employee’s hourly wage below the minimum allowed by law …