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Wages & Hours

Brown sues drywall company for $5 million in W&H violations

03/01/2008
California’s attorney general recently filed suit against a Southern California drywall contracting firm for what he called “a sophisticated and heartless scheme” to cheat its employees out of wages. Attorney General Jerry Brown sued Irvine-based Interwall Development Systems, claiming that it failed to pay its employees overtime …

Drivers’ overtime suit gets class-Action status

03/01/2008
On Jan. 4, a California Superior Court judge certified a class action brought by drivers who claimed they had been denied meal and rest breaks in violation of California law. The suit was brought by approximately 345 White Cap Industries delivery drivers …

Paycheck stubs’ new look for 2008

03/01/2008
Q. Are there new requirements regarding the type of information that should be included on an employee’s pay statement? …

Save big bucks: Consult Labor Dept. before denying overtime

03/01/2008
Violate the Fair Labor Standards Act at your peril. If you incorrectly classify an employee as exempt and refuse to pay overtime, you face a possible three-year willful violation statute of limitations—plus the possibility a court will double what you owe. Before you decide an employee is exempt, consult the U.S. Labor Department or a qualified employment law attorney …

AT&T and BellSouth face back-Wage suit

03/01/2008

AT&T Corp. and BellSouth Corp., based in Atlanta, have been hit with a class-action unpaid wage and overtime lawsuit in U.S. District Court, Northern District. The lawsuit seeks back wages for time worked before and after shifts and during meals and rest breaks on behalf of employees in call centers in several states …

Study: Big increase in wage-Related lawsuits in ’07

03/01/2008
Fair Labor Standards Act lawsuits outnumbered cases relating to employment discrimination and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act in 2007, and the trend will likely continue in 2008, according to an annual study by the law firm Seyfarth Shaw LLP …

IBM fixes overtime problem … with a pay cut

03/01/2008
For years, IBM Corp. was haunted by a big overtime lawsuit filed by its highly compensated technical-support employees.  Now, nearly two years later, IBM has reclassified 7,600 technical-support employees, making them eligible for overtime. But the company also reduced their base pay by about 15% …

The HR I.Q. Test: March ’08

03/01/2008
Test your knowledge of recent trends in employment law, comp & benefits and other HR issues with our monthly mini-quiz … 

Pennsylvania one of seven hot employment law states

03/01/2008
Pennsylvania is one of seven hot states for wage-and-hour complaints, according to a report by employment law firm Seyfarth Shaw LLP. Fourth Annual Workplace Class Action Litigation Report shows that wage-and-hour court actions are growing at the highest rates in Pennsylvania, California, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, New York and Texas …

Can we dock pay for punching in late? Does the employee have a grace period?

03/01/2008
Q. Is there a rule for docking someone’s pay if he punches in late, and if so, how many minutes grace time does he get before you dock him 15 minutes?