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Wages & Hours

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.

Walmart sees light, settles overtime pay lawsuit

06/18/2012
Walmart has agreed to pay $4.8 million to settle U.S. Department of Labor charges that it misclassified employees working at vision centers in the retail giant’s stores.

How can we legally cut all salaries by 10%?

06/14/2012
Q. We need to cut our payroll costs. Is there any reason we can’t cut everyone by 10%? All our employees are at-will.

Settlement after workers (and rabbis) say pay wasn’t kosher

06/08/2012
Brooklyn’s Flaum Appetizing has settled a long-running pay dispute with 20 Hispanic employees at its Williams­burg plant. The kosher food maker and deli agreed to pay the workers $577,000 to settle the dispute.

Commuting help isn’t reasonable accommodation

06/04/2012
Employers are supposed to provide reasonable accommodations that remove barriers to working for disabled workers. But those accommodations don’t have to include implementing changes that make a disabled employee’s commute easier.

Beware disciplining by withholding pay raises

06/01/2012
Any adverse employment action—including withholding an ex­­pected pay increase—can form the basis for a discrimination lawsuit. If you hold back raises to punish rule-breaking, make sure you can show you do so impartially.

DOL takes tough stance on enforcing tip rules

05/25/2012
The U.S. Department of Labor has issued final regulations that specify that employees’ tips are their sole property, regardless of whether employers take the tip credit.

To win wage case, worker must do more than contest records

05/25/2012
If you keep good records of the hours workers put in, chances are you’ll be able to beat an employee’s claim that he wasn’t paid for all hours worked. He’ll have to show some evidence that your records are wrong.

Employers offering more flexibility on when work happens, less on how much

05/24/2012

Employers are increasing employees’ options for managing when and where they work, while reducing some options that affect how much they work, according a new study by researchers at the Families and Work Institute.

How to handle pay for Guard and Reserve members

05/22/2012
If you have employees away on extended military deployments or who will train for two weeks this summer as members of the National Guard or Reserve, you face tricky pay problems.