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FLSA

DOL replaces opinion letters with new ‘administrator interpretations’

04/06/2010
The Labor Department has ended its longstanding practice of issuing opinion letters to answer employers’ specific questions about complex wage-and-hour issues, replacing them with general guidance on how to comply with federal pay laws. Critics say the move marks a fundamental shift that will help employees—and harm employers.

How should we calculate paid ‘on-call’ time?

03/26/2010
Q. We have a maintenance employee who we will soon put “on call” for various shifts—occasionally at night—to fix equipment. How should we handle his on-call pay?

Can we offer comp time instead of overtime pay for nonexempt employees who work OT?

03/26/2010
Q. Can we offer our nonexempt employees comp time instead of overtime pay during a pay period? If we can, do we have to offer it at one and a half times, just like overtime is paid? For example, if an employee works one hour of overtime, do we have to give him one and a half hours of comp time?

Feds publish guidance on new child-labor penalties

03/23/2010

A little-noticed provision buried in last year’s Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) raised the stakes for employer child-labor violations. It increased the maximum penalty to $50,000 for each child-labor violation that causes serious injury or death of an employee under age 18.

Can we use a tip credit to make sure our employees make at least the minimum wage?

03/19/2010
Q. It has been our practice to pay our waiters and waitresses less than the minimum wage because we include their tips in their hourly wage. Is this legal?

Pay the minimum or more? Broad tip pools OK

03/19/2010
The FLSA has complicated rules for employers that pay less than the minimum wage to staff who receive tips. If tips aren’t large enough, then the employer has to top off the wages so the employee makes at least minimum wage. But what happens if the employer pays the customarily tipped employee minimum wage or more right from the start? That’s the question the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals recently answered for the first time.

Workers ‘illegal’? You still have to pay them

03/12/2010

Employees can always sue if they haven’t been paid for their work—even if they’re in the country illegally and not eligible to work in the United States. Employers can’t use their undocumented status as an excuse for not paying minimum wage and overtime under the FLSA.

When whistle-blower complains, watch out for supervisor retaliation

03/11/2010

When an employee believes it’s necessary to end-run a supervisor to complain about potentially illegal conduct, resist the temptation to ignore the complaint. And whatever you do, don’t tell the whistle-blower to take it up with the supervisor.

How should we handle overtime and holidays?

03/11/2010

Q. I am wondering about rules relating to overtime during weeks with holidays. We pay a higher rate than normal for employees who work on the day of a holiday. Do we need to include the additional pay rate in calculating any overtime owed during the same week? …

Plan for work pile-up following FMLA leave

03/09/2010

In today’s economic climate, you might be tempted to forgo hiring a temp to fill in for an employee who’s out on FMLA leave. Especially if you initially believe the employee won’t be gone long, what’s the harm? But what will you do if the employee returns to a huge pile of work left undone during her absence? Think twice before you tell her to catch up or else.