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Wages & Hours

Clearly label delivery fee ‘not a gratuity’

03/15/2013
If your business delivers food and adds a small delivery charge, make extra sure customers understand the fee is not a gratuity.

When equipment must start up, when does work begin?

03/07/2013
Q. When our employees come in to work, they spend part of their time getting their equipment running. Do we need to compensate them for that time?

Eye care company sees the error of its pay ways

03/07/2013
Fort Worth-based Alcon Laboratories has agreed to pay $199,443 in back wages to 342 assemblers, material handlers and production technicians at its Houston facility.

Obama’s $9 minimum wage bill unlikely to pass

03/06/2013
President Obama began a public push last month for Con­­gress to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $9.00 per hour. Outlook: The proposal will have a tough time getting out of the House.

Caterer to serve up $278,000 in back wages and fines

03/05/2013
Eight years after being flagged for similar violations, Long Island’s Chateau Briand catering company has been burned again for illegal pay practices.

Mother Monster’s personal assistant seeks more OT pay

03/05/2013
Lady Gaga’s former personal assistant wants the flamboyant performer and cultural phenomenon to cough up another $400,000 in back overtime pay. Claiming she was on call 24/7, the assistant’s lawsuit says she should have been paid overtime for 128 hours per week in addition to her $75,000 a year salary.

Long Island restaurants can’t duck fair pay

02/07/2013
A chain of three Long Island Asian restaurants will pay more than $1 million in back wages and penalties to 255 current and former employees who were underpaid.

Could nonexempts’ use of smartphones cause wage-and-hour liability?

02/01/2013
Hourly employees’ use of smartphones (as well as online email access from remote locations) has boosted worker productivity. However, it has also substantially increased the risk of off-the-clock-work violations.

Texas agencies settle with Feds over pay disparities

02/01/2013
The U.S. Department of Justice and the EEOC have an­­nounced a settlement with two Texas state agen­­cies, resolving pay discrimination allegations at a state department that no longer exists.

In Austin, half-baked pay scheme costs dough

02/01/2013
Chuy’s Panaderia Bakery, which oper­­ates two locations in Austin, has agreed to settle charges of failing to pay the federal minimum wage to 101 employees.