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FLSA

Rites of spring: The hidden dangers of hiring unpaid interns

04/08/2008

The calendar turns to spring, and you know what’s coming. It’s that time of year when employers are swamped with requests from college students for unpaid internships. The benefits of the symbiotic relationship are obvious. But the legal risks are not …

Charging employees for uniforms

04/08/2008
Q. We would like to require employees to pay for their work uniforms. Can we do this? …

Exempt employees and a reduced workweek

04/08/2008
Q. During our slow season, we would like to require employees to work just four days per week in order save on labor costs. Can we require exempt employees to participate? …

Starbucks settles overtime suit

04/07/2008
Starbucks recently settled a lawsuit brought by assistant store managers who had accused the coffee company of denying them overtime wages in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Judge Keith Ellison of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas approved the settlement …

Wage-and-Hour, on-Call and mileage issues for ‘Exempt’ workers

04/07/2008
Q. I own a home-health agency. Although my licensed vocational nurses are paid by the visit, my registered nursing staff is considered management. They are salaried. Are we lawfully required to pay our RNs “on-call” pay or mileage? Although it’s not documented as such, we have taken these things into consideration when setting their salaries …

Sunflower Market hit with $125,000 back-Wage bill

04/01/2008
Sunflower Market has agreed to pay $125,310 in back wages to workers in four states for unpaid overtime. The U.S. Labor Department also levied $10,670 in fines against the grocery chain for violations of the child labor laws …

Payroll records: Timekeeping for exempt, nonexempt workers

04/01/2008
Federal wage-and-hour laws require you to have a reliable system to accurately keep track of employees’ hours and pay. Casual timekeeping systems can easily trigger a back-wage lawsuit. Companies subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act must keep records for both nonexempt and exempt employees …

Wage-and-Hour suits are hot

04/01/2008
Wage-and-hour lawsuits are growing exponentially, according to the fourth Annual Workplace Class Action Litigation Report from national law firm Seyfarth Shaw LLP. New York was among the states experiencing the sharpest growth in wage-and-hour claims …

How to legally verify workers’ ages

04/01/2008
Q. We run an amusement park. We have many jobs that can only be done by people of certain ages. For some jobs, employees must be at least 15, while others have minimum ages of 16, 18 and 21. What is the legal way for us to verify the age of an applicant on an employment application in Ohio? …

Double-Check discharge rationale if employee participated in FLSA action

04/01/2008
Employees who file or participate in an FLSA lawsuit are protected from retaliation. That’s why it’s important to carefully consider any disciplinary action and make certain that the decision is fair, consistent and based on solid business reasons …