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Wages & Hours

DOL cites Silicon Valley firm that paid $1.21 per hour

03/23/2015
San Jose-based Electronics for Imaging (EFI) will have to pay $40,156 to eight workers it brought in from India. A U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation found the company required workers to put in as many as 122 hours per week and paid as little as the equivalent of $1.21 per hour in Indian rupees.

Workers can be on-call during rest periods

03/23/2015

Under California law, employees must receive a rest break for every four hours worked and employers may not require employees to work during their breaks. But what about employees who are allowed to take breaks and do what they wish during that time but still have to respond to calls if necessary? In a recent case, security guards asked that question because they had to carry their radios during breaks in case they were suddenly needed.

Survey: High school athletes have higher incomes later

03/20/2015
Adults who were high school athletes tend to have higher incomes, according to a new Harris Interactive poll. Fifteen percent of adults who participated in athletics have personal incomes greater than $100,000, compared to just 9% of those who did not participate.

From salaried to hourly: How do we set his pay?

03/19/2015
Q. We have an employee going from a full-time salaried position to part-time hourly. To set his hourly rate, do we have to divide his salary by 2080 (40 hours per week for a year)?

Pay for required desk time–even if no work is happening

03/12/2015
Gary worked as a clerk at a motel in which he lived. He was required to sit at the front desk for an eight-hour shift, but the motel only paid him for the “busy” time when guests checked in or out. Gary sued, alleging wage-and-hour violations.

May our employees pool their tips?

03/11/2015
Q. The waitstaff in our restaurant pools tips with the dishwashers and hosts. Is this OK?

Do we have to pay overtime for hours an employee spent out on sick leave?

03/11/2015
Q. Last week, an employee was out sick on Monday but worked 40 hours Tuesday through Friday. She would like to use her sick leave for Monday and claim overtime for those Monday hours. Must I pay her overtime for those hours?

Unauthorized OT? Pay up … and then discipline

03/11/2015
Employers must pay hourly employees for all overtime worked, whether it was authorized or not. So what’s the best way to discourage employees from working unauthorized OT?

Still no word from DOL on release of new OT rules for supervisors

03/10/2015
The long-whispered, unofficial goal had been a February 2015 release of these new overtime rules. February came and went, and Labor Department officials are tight-lipped about when the rules will be released and what’s taking so long.

Watch out for, prepare to fix, these 6 common overtime pay errors

03/09/2015
Failing to properly pay for all overtime hours worked could result in more financial harm than good. Here are six payroll pitfalls you must avoid.