Wages & Hours

Don’t sweat minor compensation differences

07/03/2012

Ever since enactment of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act in 2009, pay equity has been a hot employment law topic. In the intervening years, many employers have proactively gone over their pay scales and made adjustments after discovering apparent pay inequalities that crept in over the years.

How should we pay for fluctuating workweek?

06/28/2012

Q. Our employees work irregular schedules. They may work for two weeks and then be off for three. Can we pay them every two weeks based on their average yearly income and, if they work more, pay them at an hourly rate?

What are the perils of inconsistent comp time?

06/28/2012

Q. Our employee manual doesn’t address compensatory time off, but we have offered certain exempt managers an hour of comp time for every hour of overtime worked. Do we have to pay them for accrued comp time when we terminate them? In the past, we’ve paid comp time to some, but not to others. Can we negotiate our own terms with each employee?

How to respond to an order to garnish an employee’s wages

06/27/2012

Record numbers of bankruptcies and foreclosures have been making a big splash in the news for the past four years. However, a quieter phenomenon—one fraught with traps for unwary employers—is a concurrent and growing trend of court-ordered or government-issued wage garnishments.

Make sure time records can withstand scrutiny

06/27/2012

Employers are responsible for keeping track of the hours and minutes their employees work. If they can’t show their records are accurate, an underpaid overtime case can get costly. That’s because—absent reliable employer records—courts will let employees fill in the timekeeping details.

Courts weigh in: How to handle meal breaks not taken

06/26/2012

With workforces lean, it’s important to squeeze every bit of productivity out of employees. But squeeze too hard by not providing employees with state-mandated meal or rest breaks, and you’re likely to face a lawsuit. Two recent cases illustrate.

How should we handle nonexempt pay for overnight, off-site meeting trips?

06/25/2012

Q. We sometimes require our hourly employees to commute from the office to a two-day meeting that includes company-sponsored social activities and an overnight stay. They then return to the office after meetings on the second day. How do we pay them for this time?

Stretch flex: The many faces of workplace flexibility

06/22/2012

A choice of work hours and the option to telecommute aren’t the only ways organizations can offer flexibility to employees. If your organization wants to expand its flex options, here are some suggestions:

Overtime violations cost Downey nursing firm $654,082

06/20/2012

A lawsuit prompted by a DOL investigation has resulted in a court order requiring Extended Health Care Inc. of Downey to pay $654,082 to 108 nurses who alleged they missed out on overtime pay in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Supreme Court ‘pharma sales’ ruling could have broad FLSA implications

06/19/2012

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that pharmaceutical sales representatives are indeed outside salespeople under the terms of the Fair Labor Standards Act. It’s a decision that could have far-reaching effects on other wage-and-hour issues. And it’s a big win for employers, regardless of the industries in which they work.