Wages & Hours

Most executives back higher minimum wage

10/23/2014

With state, local and midterm elections approaching, the minimum wage remains one of the nation’s top socioeconomic and political issues. Recent national polls have shown support for minimum wage increases among voters at large, and according to a new CareerBuilder survey, most executives are right there with them.

In pay case, Supreme Court asks: What is work?

10/16/2014

Does standing in line count as work? That was at the core of the Justice’s questions on Oct. 7 as the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Integrity Staffing Solutions v. Busk (No. 13-433, U.S. Supreme Court, 2014).

DOL: Baby Vision tried to silence workers, thwart probe

10/15/2014

The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a restraining order against BabyVision Inc. in Poughkeepsie after workers reported being threatened and intimidated by the company’s two owners.

What do we need to consider before offering extra pay for weekend work?

10/14/2014

Q. We have a short-term project coming up that is going to require some of our hourly, nonexempt employees to work some extra weekend hours. We are thinking we might pay them a higher rate to work on the weekends to encourage employees to volunteer and to reward them. Is there anything we should be keeping in mind before we do that?

A few unpaid ‘donning and doffing’ minutes can add up to penalties worth millions

10/14/2014

With few exceptions, hourly employees are entitled to pay for all time worked. Paid time can include the time it takes to put on specialized equipment and clothing and walk to a workstation. If you rely on an inaccurate formula to calculate that time, a jury may correct your mistake for all similarly situated employees—and a judge may double the amount owed for unpaid time.

Gawker is latest target of unpaid intern class action

10/08/2014

Unpaid interns for the website Gawker.com have won a round in court in their attempt to bring a class-action suit under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Utah HR tech firm winning war on employee burnout

10/08/2014

At BambooHR, employees are out the door after 40 hours a week. The 53-employee HR software company strictly enforces a no-more-than-40-hour workweek. Employees go home on time, take every weekend off and never answer emails after hours.

Miscalculating overtime pay costs San Antonio company almost $150K

10/07/2014

San Antonio-based Costa Solutions has agreed to pay 63 current and former employees $146,459 in back pay and overtime following a DOL investigation. Costa provides logistics and freight-handling services to retail business, including the H-E-B Grocery chain.

DOL’s final rule raises contractor minimum wage to $10.10 per hour

10/07/2014

The U.S. Department of Labor has announced a final rule that raises the minimum wage for workers on federal service and construction contracts to $10.10 per hour. The final rule, which applies to federal contracts beginning on or after Jan. 1, 2015, implements a White House executive order announced in February.

When unpaid ‘gap time’ doesn’t violate FLSA

09/26/2014

With collective-action wage-and-hour claims on the rise, employers worry that they may be burned by unpaid work they didn’t even know employees were performing. But a recent appeals court decision provides a rare piece of good news: As long as employees haven’t worked more than 40 hours in any given workweek, so-called “gap time” between hours paid and hours worked doesn’t always mean liability.