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FLSA

$17 million at stake: Are real estate agents nonexempt?

11/18/2011
The California Labor Commissioner is suing ZipRealty Inc., claiming the company owes unpaid wages to hundreds of real estate agents. The lawsuit is seeking minimum wages in excess of $7.5 million, overtime compensation in the amount of $1.25 million—plus damages and ­penalties of over $9 million.

Stearns bill would eliminate low wage for disabled

11/09/2011
Rep. Cliff Stearns, who represents Florida’s 6th Congressional District, has proposed legislation to amend the Fair Labor Standards Act, abolishing a provision that lets employers pay less than the minimum wage to some disabled workers.

Misclassification could cost Dayton cable firm $1.6 million

11/07/2011
A federal judge has sided with the U.S. Department of Labor in an employee misclassification lawsuit against Fairfield-based Cascom, which lays fiber-optic lines for Time Warner Cable in the Dayton area.

How to prevent costly FLSA mistakes with holiday pay & scheduling

11/03/2011

The time between Thanksgiving and New Year’s is a busy time for many HR departments. Questions regarding overtime, holiday pay and seasonal hires often arise. As long as you know the FLSA rules on holiday pay and holiday scheduling, you’ll skate through the season in good cheer.

Defying expectations: Why failing to live up to stereotypes won’t make worker’s suit a winner

11/01/2011
A unique case highlights a twist on the usual definition of discrimination: If an employee is fired for failing to live up to a stereotype about a particular race or nationality, she’s unlikely to win a discrimination lawsuit.

Are we allowed to round off hours worked?

10/31/2011
Q, My company tracks the hours of nonexempt em­­ployees using a time clock. In determining their wages, can we round up or down to the nearest five-minute increment?

Fixing misclassification? Pay the right amount

10/25/2011

Sometimes, it becomes clear that an employee has been misclassified as exempt when she should really be an hourly employee. Employers that want to fix the situation can do so and avoid a lawsuit by offering the employee double her lost overtime pay, plus interest going back either two or three years depending on how the mistake happened.

Workers required to attend ‘voluntary’ training? Be prepared to pay nonexempt employees

10/18/2011

Do you require or strongly rec­ommend that employees attend training sessions outside their regularly scheduled shifts? If training participants are hourly employees, chances are you will have to pay them for their time. Simply calling the training voluntary isn’t good enough …

Employee said he would do work free? You must still comply with the FLSA

10/12/2011
The Fair Labor Standards Act has been around for many decades, but some em­­ployers still think they can circumvent the inconvenient truth that they must pay employees for their labor. If some of your managers share this mis­­conception, the following case may make them change their minds.

Outback’s tip policy: No rules, just wrong

10/12/2011
Outback Steakhouse has agreed to pay $1.25 million to Minnesota em­­ployees to remedy what servers at the restaurant chain said was an illegal tip-pooling procedure under state law.