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Wages & Hours

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?

Look at duties—Not job title—When determining FLSA status

03/01/2008
Too many employers make a common mistake when deciding whether an employee is entitled to overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA): They look at a job title and conclude that it sounds managerial—and therefore it must be an exempt position …

Be prepared to explain why you pay some employees more

03/01/2008
Chances are, you don’t pay everyone who performs the same job exactly the same amount of money. You may, for example, have negotiated a higher rate of pay for a new employee to fill a critical shortage. Or you may pay less to recently hired employees than those loyal workers who have been with you for several years. Those are all valid and defensible reasons. That doesn’t mean, however, that you won’t be sued under the Equal Pay Act …

Wage-and-Hour suits are hot

03/01/2008
Wage-and-hour lawsuits are growing exponentially, according to the fourth Annual Workplace Class Action Litigation Report from national law firm Seyfarth Shaw …

Even a pay increase can lead to discrimination charges

03/01/2008
Don’t think because an employee receives a raise, he or she can’t sue for discrimination. The fact is, an “inadequate” or “unequal” raise can be the basis of a discrimination lawsuit—if other employees outside the affected employee’s protected class got bigger and better raises …

Can we mandate direct deposit?

03/01/2008
Q. We’d like to get away from paper payroll checks. May an employer require employees to receive wage payments by direct deposit only? …

Does more overtime equal less safety?

03/01/2008
Working excessive overtime increases an employee’s chances of suffering an on-the-job injury, according to a new Yale University study …

Texas company settles overtime claims for $1.56 million

03/01/2008
The U.S. Labor Department recently announced that McLane Co. Inc., a Temple wholesale distributor of food and grocery products, has paid $1.56 million to 570 current and former employees for wage and hour violations …

Dow Chemical pays $861,647 in overtime for employee training

03/01/2008
The U.S. Labor Department has announced that Dow Chemical of Freeport paid $861,647 in back wages to 648 operating engineers as a result of a federal investigation …

What can we do? We overpaid part-timer, who knew it and didn’t come forward

02/22/2008
Q. Because of a human error in our payroll department, one of our part-time employees has been receiving a full-time salary for the past six months. Although we recently realized our mistake, the employee never came forward to let us know about the error. Aside from recouping the funds, what actions, if any, can we take against this employee for not being forthcoming?