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Wages & Hours

Commissioned finance managers are still exempt from overtime

07/01/2005
Last year’s overtime regulations prompted many retail-industry employers to review their compensation structures. But, as the case below shows, if you’re a retailer and have commissioned employees on staff, it’s likely …

Employee returning from FMLA? Alter pay only in rare situations

07/01/2005
When employees return from FMLA leave, they’re entitled to their same or equivalent position, pay and working conditions. If you try to place someone in a lower paying or lower-prestige job, …

Stop ‘buddy punching’: Install a biometric time clock

07/01/2005
Issue: You’re paying for time that employees aren’t working because they punch each other’s timecards.
Risk: Such “buddy punching” can cost companies thousands in wasted payroll dollars.
Action: Stop …

Break time: Solve confusion over whether you must pay

06/01/2005
THE LAW. Contrary to popular belief, the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) doesn’t require employers to provide meal breaks or rest breaks for employees over age 18. However, several states …

Pay for uniform-Change time if job requires it

06/01/2005

Q. Do we have to pay employees for the time they spend changing into their uniforms before work (and out of their uniforms afterward)? We’re a hospital and our operating-room personnel must change clothes. —E.T., Maryland

5 ways to keep mandatory overtime from boiling over

06/01/2005

Like most organizations, your organization probably needs to squeeze more productivity out of fewer employees these days. That may mean requiring some hourly employees to work overtime, even if they don’t want to. But, if handled incorrectly, mandatory overtime can smother morale, create management-employee tensions and spark legal disputes … 

Female employees can sue for ‘potty parity’

06/01/2005
Don’t make different bathroom-break rules for the different sexes. Case in point: A manufacturer’s new factory had only one restroom, which was designed for men. Female employees could use that restroom …

Don’t deduct training costs from ex-Employee’s pay

05/01/2005

Q. As part of our new employees’ noncompete contracts, we’ve started including a clause that requires employees to repay the company (through payroll deduction) for training costs if they quit or are fired within one year. Are we OK legally? —S.M., Kentucky

Pay Traveling Employees for Time Actually Worked

05/01/2005

Q. How should we compensate an hourly employee for an out-of-town, two-day (9 a.m. to 5 p.m.) seminar? In particular, should we pay for the hours during the overnight hotel stay, since the employee must sleep there to be ready for the next day’s session? —N.G., North Carolina

Don’t dock pay for time-Clock mistakes

05/01/2005

Q. We dock employees’ pay by 15 minutes if they don’t punch in or out on their timecards. If this happens more than twice over any 90-day period, we write up the employee. We’ve recently been told that we shouldn’t have such a policy. Is that correct? If so, how can we make sure employees punch in? —K.K., Michigan