• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

Wages & Hours

Employees can hold you to oral pay promises under Pa. law

11/01/2006

Here’s a reason to be extra careful about what you say to employees regarding their pay: The Pennsylvania Wage Payment and Collection Law (WPCL) gives employees a way to collect on employers’ promises about wages, even if those promises were never put in writing …

Requiring work during breaks: a $78 million mistake

11/01/2006

A Pennsylvania jury last month awarded a group of present and former Wal-Mart employees $78 million in damages because the mega-retailer forced the employees to work without pay …

If state orders back pay, worker can’t file a second suit

11/01/2006

Good news for New Jersey employers: When the New Jersey Department of Labor reviews an employee’s unpaid-overtime claim and orders back pay, the employee can’t file a separate lawsuit in federal court asking for more money and attorneys’ fees to boot. Labor’s decision is final; case closed …

Replace posters to reflect new $7.15 state minimum wage

11/01/2006

Make sure you’re complying with the state’s new minimum wage, which increased $1 per hour on Oct. 1 to $7.15 per hour. (For full-time college students, you may pay as little as 85 percent of the minimum wage.) …

Court Upholds ‘Living Wage’ Law in Hudson County

11/01/2006

Hudson County’s Living Wage Law has survived a constitutional challenge brought by a county contractor. The suit alleged that the law imposed restrictions on some businesses but not others, which violated the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause …

Car pooling isn’t paid time unless employer requires it

11/01/2006

Employees’ typical home-to-work commutes are not compensable time, and that doesn’t change just because employees meet up at a designated place and take a car pool or van pool to work …

Minimum wage plays big role in state elections

11/01/2006

This month’s elections may see more states adopt minimum-wage increases as they tire of waiting for Congressional action. After the ballots are counted, more than half of the states could be sitting on minimum-wage levels above the federal $5.15 per-hour threshold …

Federal contractors: Make sure you’re paying prevailing wages

10/01/2006

A recent U.S. Labor Department action shows how aggressively the federal government is going after employers who don’t follow the letter and spirit of the Service Contract Act. The law requires employers that perform services on federal contracts to pay service employees no less than the wages and benefits prevailing in the locality …

Jiffy Lube managers win back pay in overtime case

10/01/2006

Heartland Automotive Services agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit brought by 239 Jiffy Lube managers. They alleged the company denied them overtime, violating the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and state overtime laws …

Attorneys’ Fees Added to Award in Wage-Collection Case

10/01/2006

The Pennsylvania Wage Payment and Collections Law, the state law that requires you to pay workers on time, also says you must pay employees’ legal fees when you violate the law …