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FLSA

Are meal and rest periods mandatory?

11/10/2008

Q. We run a manufacturing facility, and our production needs do not always permit our employees to take breaks during the workday. A group of employees have complained that we are required by law to provide rest breaks and a lunch break during their shifts. Are they right?

Is BlackBerry use compensable time?

11/10/2008

Q. We provide PDAs to virtually all our employees, some of whom are nonexempt. This enables them to send and respond to e-mails at all hours of the day and night. Does an employee’s time spent on his or her PDA outside of work count as hours worked?

If you hire illegal workers, better pay them

11/10/2008

An employee is an employee, regardless of his or her right to be present in the United States and work here. Thus, even illegal immigrants who were hourly employees can sue for back pay if their employers didn’t pay at least minimum wage and overtime.

Associated Supermarket execs charged with wage violations

11/07/2008

Two Brooklyn grocers have been charged with underpaying workers by more than $300,000 and falsifying business records. Bienvenido Nuñez, president of the Associated Supermarket in Bushwick, and Martin Duran, vice president, allegedly paid no wages to baggers, who worked for tips …

Beware FLSA peril: Constantly changing schedules and pay may destroy exempt status

11/06/2008

Employees who are classified as exempt under the FLSA can be paid on a salary basis and must work as many hours as necessary to get the work done. However, some employers make such frequent changes to the salary levels of exempt employees that it can almost seem as if the employees are being paid on an hourly basis. When that happens, the employer loses the right to skip paying overtime.

Is paying a daily wage risky?

11/06/2008

Q. In our industry, there is a historical practice to pay field workers a daily wage, which compensates them for all hours worked. Now we understand that class actions are being used in the wage-and-hour area to fight such practices. Is this practice a good idea in light of class-action suits?

Employee or independent contractor? It matters for FLSA

11/04/2008

True independent contractors aren’t covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Employees are. But sometimes it’s hard to tell who is a true independent contractor and who isn’t.

How to handle overtime for nonexempt employees on salary

10/30/2008

Q. We pay our nonexempt employees weekly on a salary basis, no matter how many hours they work during the week. These employees have not worked overtime hours in the past. However, the company’s operations have changed, and we expect to require some overtime work in the near future. Will we have to pay the employees time-and-a-half for those overtime hours? …

Restaurant owes back wages; owners wrangle over who pays

10/28/2008

Las Limas restaurant in Angola has been ordered to pay 20 workers roughly $40,000 in back wages for numerous wage violations. A two-year investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor found that kitchen staff were improperly paid on a salary basis and denied overtime.

Downtime: When to Pay for Meal and Rest Breaks

10/28/2008

It’s a deceptively simple concept: You have to pay nonexempt employees for every hour they work. But employers often trip over interpretation of that law when it comes to exceptions such as meal and rest breaks. Here’s a plain-English explanation of a sometimes tricky situation. PLUS! Find out what workers are really doing on their coffee breaks!