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Wages & Hours

Women have up to three years to file equal-Pay lawsuits under the EPA

01/01/2008

If you thought last year’s U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Ledbetter case made it clear that employees must file EEOC complaints within 300 days of suffering a discriminatory pay decision, think again. That deadline applies only to sex discrimination cases brought under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act …

Basic problem stalls pay suit: Plaintiff made lots of money

01/01/2008

Jacqueline Bowbin sued Bulkmatic Transport Inc. for gender discrimination, alleging violations of the Equal Pay Act. In 2006, Bowbin claims, her supervisor told her she would be well into a six-figure salary with bonuses and stock compensation. But that year, Bulkmatic apparently did not award either, companywide. Bowbin cried gender discrimination …

Time spent working on employee suggestion program—Is it work time?

01/01/2008

Q. Our company recently has adopted an employee suggestion program with prizes for employees who make a suggestion that we adopt. I have been asked whether employees who turn in suggestions must be paid for the time they spend on developing their ideas if they work on them at home. Employees are not required to turn in suggestions, but we did make a big deal about the suggestion program with our employees …

Intermittent leave and part-time status

01/01/2008

Q. Can we change an employee’s status from full time to part time if he takes intermittent leave and his hours fall below what we consider full-time work? …

State minimum wage goes up

01/01/2008

California workers who earn the minimum wage will see their pay increase to $8 per hour starting Jan. 1, 2008. California and Massachusetts have the nation’s highest state minimum wages …

Staples settles overtime suit for $38 million

01/01/2008

Staples Inc., the office supply retailer, announced that it will pay $38 million to settle overtime claims brought by California employees. The settlement ended a suit between 1,700 operations and sales managers in California who claimed they were misclassified as exempt executive employees under state law …

Clocking in and out: Can we round up or down?

01/01/2008

Q. My company tracks the hours of nonexempt employees through the use of a time clock. In determining the wages to be paid an employee, can we round up or down to the nearest five-minute increment? …

FLSA—Not state law—Provides remedy for W&H violations

01/01/2008

Lawyers representing employees in class-action wage-and-hour cases often look for ways to boost the amount of damages they can collect. One of the most common ways to do that: Bring in a host of state laws to set the employer’s punishment. That won’t work any longer in North Carolina and other Mid-Atlantic states. The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected the tactic …

Class-Action status granted for disgruntled immigrant workers

01/01/2008

A Mexican woman has been granted permission to serve as the lead plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit against a company that recruits and places temporary agricultural workers on farms and other agricultural operations in North Carolina and other states. The woman claims that International Labor Management Corporation purposely placed women in less lucrative temporary visa programs than men …

Must we allow employee smoking breaks?

01/01/2008

Q. We have a number of employees who smoke cigarettes and want to take breaks in order to light up. Is an employee entitled to smoking breaks during the workday? …