Wages & Hours

Avoid the wage-and-hour mistake that just cost an employer $229 million

05/17/2024

A jury recently reminded a Washington state employer that rounding time in a way that deprives employees of pay—even if it’s just pennies—can trigger a class-action lawsuit with a huge payout.

The new overtime rule: Factor bonuses into exempt salaries

05/13/2024

Employers can satisfy up to 10% of the new white-collar salary threshold by paying nondiscretionary bonuses, incentives and commissions.

The new OT rule: What employers should do now

04/29/2024

The new rule will force employers to undertake a detailed analysis of how they classify white-collar employees and how much they pay them. Here are the steps you should follow.

Final overtime rule: OT salary threshold to hit $58,656 on Jan. 1, with interim hike to $43,888 on July 1

04/23/2024

Exempt employees earning less than $58,656 per year on Jan. 1, 2025, will be entitled to overtime pay when they work more than 40 hours in a workweek under a long-awaited final rule issued April 23 by the Department of Labor.

New college grads can expect higher pay than last year

04/08/2024

With an overall projected average salary of $76,736, engineering graduates are expected to be the class of 2024’s top-paid majors. That is a 3.1% increase over last year’s projections.

Bill introduced to make 32-hour workweek the norm

03/25/2024

The Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act to cut the standard workweek from 40 hours per week to 32.

DOL overtime rule advances to last step before becoming final

03/08/2024

The Department of Labor’s rule expanding access to overtime pay for an additional 3.6 million exempt employees is now under review by the Office of Management and Budget, the last step in the regulatory process before a final rule is issued.

DOL orders extra helpings of damages against restaurants

02/12/2024

The Depart of Labor is cracking down hard on restaurants that cheat workers out of tips and otherwise fail to pay them properly. On Feb. 7 alone, the DOL announced it had recovered more than $850,000 from eateries in Florida, Hawaii and Oregon.

Federal contractor? Beware DOL probes of wage-and-hour violations

02/05/2024

Department of Labor investigators are going after federal contractors that cheat employees out of pay and leave—and the DOL is winning. The latest example: On Jan. 29, the DOL announced it had recovered nearly $16 million in back wages and restored more than 24,700 paid sick-leave hours for more than 2,800 employees who worked for 62 contractors and subcontractors.

Docking pay for snow-day absences: When is it legal?

02/04/2024

The snow’s coming down pretty good and an exempt employee calls to say she can’t make it in today because her car is stuck. Can you deduct a full day’s pay from her salary for that missed day? What if she’s non-exempt? What if you close work because of bad weather? Here’s guidance—and a handy flowchart—to help you make the call.