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Wages & Hours

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.

It’s not just the feds: States crack down on contractor misclassification

05/19/2012
The DOL  and IRS continue to aggressively enforce laws against misclassifying employees as independent contractors. But a major shift has taken hold in the past two years, with state legislatures and regulators actively taking a greater role in cracking down on companies that misclassify workers as independent contractors.

What are the pay rules when we have to close because of an emergency?

05/18/2012

Q. Our offices were closed due to a phoned-in bomb threat. As a result, we were forced to send home all our employees. Do we need to pay employees for showing up to work that day?

California Supreme Court rules on handling meal and rest periods

05/18/2012
In April, the Cali­­for­­nia Supreme Court finally issued its opinion in Brinker v. Superior Court. In a major victory for California employers, the court issued clear rules on how and when employee meal and rest periods must be provided.

California’s wage-and-hour laws apply to everyone–even foreign-owned corporations

05/18/2012
Ignoring California’s wage-and-hour rules is a big mistake—no matter where an employer is based. When foreign-owned corporations assign employees to work in Cali­for­nia, California’s employment rules apply.

DOL to take a tough stance on enforcing tip rules

05/18/2012
The DOL recently gave the nod to national enforcement of regulations specifying that employees’ tips are their sole property, regardless of whether employers take the tip credit. This should serve as a timely reminder, since many teens and college students regularly earn tips during the summer.