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Wages & Hours

Gear up for minimum wage hike: Notify workers, check budget

10/01/2006

Make sure you’re ready for the state’s minimum wage increase, which takes effect Jan. 1, 2007, and will affect about 430,000 Pennsylvania workers …

Executive exemption requires true hiring/firing authority

10/01/2006

Before you classify supervisors as exempt executive employees, make sure you’ve given them enough authority to make that classification stick. That means delegating true hiring/firing power with the clear understanding that your organization will typically follow the supervisors’ recommendations …

Labor Department deploys extra investigators in Katrina-Recovery area to stop wage violations

10/01/2006

To ensure that employees working on Katrina recovery projects are paid according to the law, the U.S. Labor Department has sued a Houston drywall company for Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) violations …

Supreme Court preview: More pay-Bias lawsuits coming?

10/01/2006

When the U.S. Supreme Court opens its new term on Oct. 2, look for a clear theme to the employment-related cases it has chosen to address: the Civil Rights Act of 1964 …

Commute isn’t on the clock, Even 100+ miles

10/01/2006

Q. Should we pay for travel time if the employee’s drive from home to the first job site is a very long distance (example: Los Angeles to San Diego)? —L.S., California

No comp time for private firms; Flex time is OK

10/01/2006

Q. Can you please clarify if and when we can offer comp time to our employees? I’m confused. —S.L., West Virginia

‘Cool’ music company creates transition plan for new moms

09/01/2006

Detroit-based music company, Handleman Co., hosts impromptu concerts in the lobby and gives free CDs to employees. Such perks landed the firm on a list of 60 "Cool Places to Work" in Michigan. But cool wasn’t cutting it for the company’s working moms, who wanted more flexibility after having babies …

How to pay employee called in during PTO leave

09/01/2006

Q. We have a nonexempt salaried employee who normally works Monday to Friday and is paid biweekly. She took a week’s vacation, which would come from her PTO (paid time off) bank. We had a customer emergency and called her into work on the Saturday of her vacation week. How should she be paid? Should she receive her PTO pay but have eight hours less of it charged against her PTO bank? Should she be paid for eight extra hours, plus her week of PTO pay? If we pay her both PTO and eight extra hours, do we have to pay her overtime? —W.M.

Clerical tasks don’t defeat administrative exemption

09/01/2006

Here’s one more reason to double-check your job descriptions: Some exempt employees may try to claim they’re entitled to overtime pay simply because they spend a fair amount of time on filing and typing …

Understanding religious accommodations in Pennsylvania workplaces

09/01/2006

Pennsylvania mirrors America’s growing diversity in many ways. Today, mosques occupy old churches; co-workers wear burqas and yarmulkes; and some employees request "prayer breaks." Religious diversity is a reason for celebration in a pluralistic society, but it also presents challenges in the workplace …