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FLSA

Cut pay if warranted: It’s OK under FLSA

09/01/2011
The Fair Labor Standards Act grants many rights to workers, in­­cluding the right to overtime pay for working more than 40 hours in a workweek. It does not, however, prevent employers from lowering hourly wages if they choose to do so.

Don’t micromanage store managers

09/01/2011
Want to keep exempt status in place for your store managers? One key is to make sure regional managers don’t micromanage the store. Giving store managers autonomy helps show they truly do have managerial authority.

Working online before commuting: Is drive time paid?

08/30/2011

Many employees spend time at home before or after their workday checking email. For nonexempt employees, that work could count as paid time if it amounts to a “substantial” amount of time. But now some hourly employees have begun to raise a related issue: If they start the day with a few work emails, shouldn’t they be paid for the time they spend commuting to work?

When to pay for ‘on call’ hours? Ignorance of law isn’t an excuse

08/24/2011

Whether or not to pay employees for on-call time comes down to one question: How many restrictions are you putting on the employees’ personal time? The EEOC says on-call time be­­comes compensable under the FLSA “when the on-call conditions are so restrictive or the calls to duty so frequent that the employee cannot effectively use on-call time for personal purposes.”

Philly airport Legal Sea Foods wraps up odd pay policy

08/23/2011
Sometimes unique workplace situations lead to creative solutions, but those solutions aren’t always, well, legal. Legal Sea Foods’ location at the Philadelphia International Airport has two positions that apparently exist nowhere else in the chain: silverware rollers.

Know 6 factors that determine independent contractor status

08/11/2011

Today’s tight economy has prompted many employers to try to reduce costs—including overtime—by classifying workers as independent contractors instead of employees. That hasn’t escaped the notice of the U.S. Department of Labor, which has stepped up efforts to deter misclassification.

Interns aren’t just free labor: How to comply with the FLSA

08/08/2011
With job markets tight and employers shunning applicants with long, unexplained résumé gaps, the ambitious unemployed are opting for unpaid internships. On the surface, that looks like a win-win: The employer gets free labor in exchange for valuable training. The intern also builds skills and prevents big résumé holes. But before you get carried away by the prospect of marvelous production for virtually no cost, let’s have a reality check.

Health system consultants gain class-action status in FLSA suit

08/08/2011
A New York court has granted class-­action status to a lawsuit filed by ben­efits consultants at a subsidiary of the WellCare health system, who allege they were misclassified as exempt.

Worker lost $700: Can we make him pay it back?

08/02/2011
When an employee loses company property or money, what recourse do employers have to recoup their loss? It depends on the applicable state wage law … and on whether you believe the “loss” was really accidental.

Commission-based staff: Paid for training time?

08/01/2011
Q. We have medical providers at our clinic who are paid straight commission based on the number of patients treated and the treatment cost. Sometimes, they block time out of their schedules to attend training on laser techniques or continuing medical training for their licenses. I know that most employees must be paid for training time, but this is different. Do we have to pay them?