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FLSA

Stop off-the-clock work with strong OT rules

05/17/2011
Hourly employees know that if they work overtime, their employer must pay them for the extra hours. That’s true, but it doesn’t mean they can work OT whenever they feel like it. Here’s how to end unauthorized overtime:

Use tip credit for some pay? Beware requiring ‘substantial’ work that doesn’t generate tips

05/11/2011
Employers must be careful not to give tipped employees too many additional duties to complete before, during or after their tip-generating activities. If more than about 20% of their time is spent on such activities, you may have to pay them the full minimum wage for those hours, regardless of how much they earn in tips during the shift.

DOL dogs animal hospital to make good on OT violations

05/06/2011
Pleasant Run-based Hamilton Avenue Animal Hospital faces a wage-and-hour lawsuit after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation found the owners forced employees to pay back overtime they had received.

Undocumented workers can still win overtime suit

05/05/2011
The immigration status of employees is irrelevant when it comes to their ability to file and win Fair Labor Standards Act lawsuits, as a new case shows.

Mexican food: Sure it’s nice, but is it art?

05/04/2011
The owners of a restaurant, apparently attempting to capitalize on the growing popularity of cooking as art, have lost their argument that a cook is exempt from overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Dallas company stiffed workers, now will pay back overtime

05/03/2011
A staffing company that provides workers for major hotels in the Dallas-Fort Worth area has agreed to pay more than $242,000 to employees after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation uncovered Fair Labor Standards Act violations.

The HR I.Q. Test: May ’11

05/02/2011
Test your knowledge of recent trends in employment law, comp & benefits and other HR issues with our monthly mini-quiz …

Is it legal to offer comp time?

04/28/2011
Q. Some of our full-time, salaried employees have to put in a lot of extra time for off-hours meetings and additional workload responsibilities. Is it legal to give these employees extra time off from work?

If employee has authority to hire and fire, is he automatically eligible for exempt classification?

04/28/2011
Q. Our mailroom supervisor is currently classified as exempt because his position includes qualifications such as hiring and firing the mailroom staff. But for the most part, he mainly performs mailroom duties. Have we classified him correctly?

Can we rearrange worker’s hours to avoid OT?

04/26/2011
A new customer demands delivery on a weekend. A crush of work means shifts will have to keep running at unusual hours. Either way, you’re staring down the possibility that you’ll have to pay overtime. Can you legally avoid OT by altering workers’ regular schedules so no one works more than 40 hours in a workweek?