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Wages & Hours

Ignore an overtime lawsuit, hand a win to workers

12/03/2013
Can’t convince management that they shouldn’t ignore an overtime lawsuit? Share this horror story.

5th Circuit adds confusion to OT in misclassification cases

12/02/2013
It just got more complicated to calculate the overtime pay you owe a misclassified employee. In Black v. SettlePou P.C., the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a district court’s ruling concerning the proper methodology for calculating damages when an employee is misclassified as exempt.

Stormy weather: How to pay when Old Man Winter causes absences

12/02/2013

When harsh winter weather bumps up against the FLSA, the result can be a blizzard of pay problems for you. Employees often come in late, leave early or miss work altogether. How should you count their hours—and their pay? Here’s a flowchart that breaks down your options.

Is probationary employee entitled to holiday pay?

11/29/2013
Q. Are we required to offer holiday pay to employees who are within their 90-day probationary period? Or can we start paying extra for holiday work only after the probationary period is complete?

How should we handle time tracking for nonexempt telecommuters?

11/27/2013
Q. We try to be a flexible workplace and sometimes get requests from employees to work from home for a day or two during school breaks and so on. I don’t have a problem with this for exempt em­­ployees, but what about hourly ones? How do we track that time?

High-level managers have pay discretion? You’re courting a class-action lawsuit

11/26/2013
Broad discretion about compensation at the bottom of the pay scale usually prevents employees from pursuing a class-action lawsuit similar to the one in the Supreme Court’s 2011 landmark Wal-Mart v. Dukes case. However, all bets are off if the issue is pay for higher-level employees.

Ex-worker didn’t return property: Can we tap his PTO?

11/22/2013
Q. After an employee quit, he failed to return certain company property (badge, access card, etc.). Can we legally withhold his PTO balance because of this? 

Found misclassification problem? Fix it fast

11/19/2013
Avoid costly litigation by reviewing how you classify your em­­ployees as exempt or nonexempt. If you discover you have made a mistake, fix it right away. You’ll cut your misclassification liability.

How much is that paid internship worth?

11/15/2013
Undergrads working in organizations that offer paid internships earn a mean hourly rate of $12.74, according to a SHRM survey.

Don’t let court take employee’s word on hours; keep your own time records for all staff

11/15/2013
Here’s a case that should send chills down your spine if you don’t keep meticulous records of every hour worked. A court has allowed an employee’s lawsuit to proceed based on little more than her vague allegation that she wasn’t paid overtime for hours in excess of 40 per week.