FLSA

Privacy concern: Are ‘group’ time sheets legal?

07/19/2010

Q. Currently, we require each individual employee to fill out his or her own time sheet. But we’re considering a new format that lists all employees on one time sheet. Is this legal? Or should each employee’s time sheet be kept confidential?

What’s the word on the kind of work high school students are allowed to perform?

07/15/2010

Q. Our company owns a number of hardware stores and we plan to hire some high school students this fall. Are there certain limitations under child labor laws that restrict the types of duties that minors can be allowed to perform?

In our company, sleeping on the job is OK, but do we have to pay employees for it?

07/15/2010

Q. We operate a home health care business. Our employees frequently are on duty for more than 24 hours. If employees are able to sleep during shifts that are 24 hours or more, do we have to pay them for those hours?

‘Jon & Kate Plus 8,’ minus child labor violations

07/14/2010

Fans of “Jon & Kate Plus 8” can relax. After an investigation, the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry decided not to fine the popular reality TV show for alleged child labor violations.

What are the rules on paying for weekend travel time?

07/13/2010

It’s one of the trickier wage-and-hour questions: How to pay hourly employees who travel on days they usually don’t work, such as Saturdays and Sundays. Learn the intricacies of determining which hours are paid, which are not and how the Portal-to-Portal Act exception to the Fair Labor Standards Act comes into play.

Bank of America workers sue for overtime

07/13/2010

Workers at Bank of America’s retail branches and call centers in five states have filed a lawsuit claiming they are due unpaid overtime from the banking giant. The suit, filed in federal district court in Kansas, alleges the bank requires employees to work more than 40 hours per week, but only pays them for 40.

How do we know if we must pay interns?

07/09/2010

Q. Our company would like to hire interns to work in our office this fall, but we’re not sure if we have to pay them. What are some guidelines as to whether or not we need to put them on the payroll?

DOL stiffens child labor penalties

07/09/2010

The DOL has raised the penalties for employers that violate the nation’s child labor laws. Fines for employers with workers under the age of 12 now start at $8,000. Minimum fines for hiring 12- or 13-year-olds now stand at $6,000 for each violation. In cases where 14- or 15-year-olds are illegally hired, the fines range between $6,000 and $11,000 per violation.

Even coffee-making can be compensable time

07/06/2010

The little things employees do while they’re getting ready for work—putting on safety gear, firing up their computers, standing in line to get equipment—can sometimes be considered paid work time. Courts often see such “preparatory work” as compensable, even if it benefits the employee, too. Consider this recent case involving making the morning coffee and breakfast before the start of a shift.

Looking for ‘creative’ ways to avoid overtime? Courts will look for ways to make you pay

07/02/2010

Before you are tempted to come up with clever ways to avoid paying overtime to employees, consider this: It’s usually easy for courts to see through such ruses. And after they discover shenanigans, courts usually reward the wronged employee with a bonus payment equal to the lost overtime wages—plus the employer has to pay the legal fees.