Wages & Hours

Must we pay this summer intern?

07/02/2019

Q. We are short-handed this summer and it’s really hard to get employees right now. We want to offer an internship to a college student to help us out. She would gain experience and if she can work it out with her advisor, maybe she can get college credit. Do we have to pay her?

Flex time provides recruiting edge for 61% of employers

06/25/2019

A survey of 150 HR professionals found that 61% offer some sort of flexible work option to attract talent.

Recent grads may need to adjust salary expectations

06/18/2019

Have you started interviewing newly minted graduates from the Class of 2019? Get ready for either a rude awakening or a good laugh.

Presidential hopefuls picket with advocates for $15 minimum wage

06/18/2019

The Fight for $15 advocacy group that is pushing to raise the minimum wage nationwide picked up some notable support June 15.

Conversations among co-workers can be enough to certify class-action lawsuit

06/13/2019

When an employee claims she wasn’t paid properly under the Fair Labor Standards Act, she can ask the court to represent all other similarly situated workers in a potentially costly class-action suit. It doesn’t take much more than a few casual conversations with co-workers for a single plaintiff to move a class-action lawsuit forward.

Any risk of not reducing demoted worker’s pay?

06/10/2019

Q. We moved a salaried supervisor to a rank-and-file hourly position, but we left him at the higher salary. Now, several co-workers are complaining that they’re being paid less for the same job and grumbling about discrimination. The co-workers are of different nationalities than the former supervisor. Should we raise the co-workers’ salaries if we want to be as cautious as possible to avoid a lawsuit?

Beware wage-and-hour lawsuits that might suddenly turn into class actions

06/10/2019

Here’s another reason to make sure you are carefully following the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime rules: Just one disgruntled and allegedly underpaid employee can file a class-action lawsuit and get the court to authorize contacting all other similarly situated workers to join in as plaintiffs.

Pay for time spent in disciplinary meeting?

06/06/2019

Q. Last week, we asked a worker to come in early to discuss a complaint about her work that had come to our attention. We issued her a written warning. We did not pay her for the approximately 30 minutes we spent with her before she was scheduled to come in to work. Now, she’s threatening a wage-and-hour complaint. Did we make a mistake?

DOL: Belmont, Saratoga horse trainer broke H-2B visa rules

06/04/2019

It’s no secret that the Trump administration is tough on undocumented immigrants. But it’s also holding employers to account when they don’t follow the rules for visa-holding immigrants and temporary workers.

Snapshot: The closer the comparison, the smaller the pay gap