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FLSA

DLSE issues opinion letter on partial-day absences

04/19/2010
The California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) has issued an opinion letter stating that, although employers may not deduct from exempt employees’ salaries for partial-day absences, they may make deductions from employee leave balances in accordance with the employer’s bona fide leave policies.

Stop the state-federal-state litigation merry-go-round

04/19/2010
Just when you think a lawsuit will be resolved, something happens that starts the whole process over again. That’s why it’s so important to prevent lawsuits in the first place.

Of driving time and computer connections: 9th Circuit revisits before- and after-work pay

04/19/2010
Last year we told you about a recent 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision on whether time employees spend commuting to a remote job site was compensable time. The court ruled that under both California law and the FLSA, driving a company car from an employee’s home to his first job location of the day was not work time but was instead unpaid commuting time. Well, now the same 9th Circuit panel has changed its ruling …

Let employees dress at home to cut FLSA risk

04/19/2010
Here’s a simple risk-reduction measure for employers that require employees to wear a uniform they need to put on before the start of a shift. You can reduce your chances of being on the losing end of a wage-and-hour lawsuit by giving employees the option to suit up at home.

Employee doing more than one job? Make sure all fit FLSA exempt status

04/15/2010

In these hard economic times, lots of businesses are restructuring jobs to cut costs. Sometimes that involves assigning an employee to perform two very different kinds of work. If you find yourself asking exempt employees to double up like that, be careful not to run afoul of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Make sure that both jobs being performed fit into one of the exempt categories—though not necessarily the same one.

Can we reduce pay for exempt employee who will miss work for intermittent FMLA leave?

04/15/2010
Q. One of our salaried supervisors has informed us that he needs to take two hours off work each week for the next two months to undergo medical treatment. His physician has certified his illness as a “serious health condition” under the FMLA. May we reduce his pay for the time he will miss work, or are we required to continue to pay his full salary to retain his exempt status under the Fair Labor Standards Act?

Florence company to pay quarry workers for back overtime

04/15/2010
The U.S. Department of Labor has announced that Cobra Stone will pay its quarry workers $364,403 in overtime back wages. The Florence-based company, which produces natural stone for construction projects, will pay the back wages to 169 current and former employees.

Katrina cleanup workers get $1 million in back OT

04/15/2010

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division has settled a lawsuit against an Irving-based engineering and construction firm for failing to pay employees assigned to cleanup crews following Hurricane Katrina. The overtime award to the workers: $1 million. Under a consent judgment, Fluor Enterprises, which was the general contractor with FEMA, will pay 154 workers.

Understand the fine line between an exempt professional and nonexempt technician

04/15/2010
To save on overtime costs, employers often try to shoehorn employees into Fair Labor Standards Act exemptions. That can be a potentially devastating mistake. This square-peg-in-a-round-hole problem often occurs when employers try to fit employees into the FLSA’s professional exemption.

To pay or not to pay interns? The feds are cracking down

04/13/2010
With fewer real, paying jobs available to young people, the number of unpaid internships is on the rise. Now the U.S. Department of Labor and many state labor departments (including California) are stepping up enforcement against employers who illegally use internships for free labor. Here’s how to stay on the right side of the law.