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FLSA

Carwashes take a bath over unpaid wages

03/01/2008

Two Bronx carwashes, Tremont Car Wash and Webster Car Wash, and their corporate president have agreed to pay $707,298 in back wages and damages to 237 employees. U.S. Labor Department investigators found that employees at both carwashes were required to work more than 70 hours per week without being paid the federal minimum wage or overtime …

CVS fined for child labor, overtime and timecard violations

03/01/2008

CVS Caremark Corp. was fined $226,000 by the U.S. Labor Department for changing employee timecards and violating child labor laws. The department found 43 violations at stores in New York and six other states …

Unreported tips could spell high workers’ compensation payout

03/01/2008

Employers and employees in cash businesses often bluff, wink and nod their way around the edge of wage-and-hour law legality. But when it’s time to settle workers’ compensation claims, all the cards must go on the table. A recent Florida workers’ compensation case shows just how wrong things can go when employers give their employees unrequested advice on reporting income …

Save big bucks: Consult Labor Dept. before denying overtime

03/01/2008
Violate the Fair Labor Standards Act at your peril. If you incorrectly classify an employee as exempt and refuse to pay overtime, you face a possible three-year willful violation statute of limitations—plus the possibility a court will double what you owe. Before you decide an employee is exempt, consult the U.S. Labor Department or a qualified employment law attorney …

AT&T and BellSouth face back-Wage suit

03/01/2008

AT&T Corp. and BellSouth Corp., based in Atlanta, have been hit with a class-action unpaid wage and overtime lawsuit in U.S. District Court, Northern District. The lawsuit seeks back wages for time worked before and after shifts and during meals and rest breaks on behalf of employees in call centers in several states …

Study: Big increase in wage-Related lawsuits in ’07

03/01/2008
Fair Labor Standards Act lawsuits outnumbered cases relating to employment discrimination and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act in 2007, and the trend will likely continue in 2008, according to an annual study by the law firm Seyfarth Shaw LLP …

IBM fixes overtime problem … with a pay cut

03/01/2008
For years, IBM Corp. was haunted by a big overtime lawsuit filed by its highly compensated technical-support employees.  Now, nearly two years later, IBM has reclassified 7,600 technical-support employees, making them eligible for overtime. But the company also reduced their base pay by about 15% …

Pennsylvania one of seven hot employment law states

03/01/2008
Pennsylvania is one of seven hot states for wage-and-hour complaints, according to a report by employment law firm Seyfarth Shaw LLP. Fourth Annual Workplace Class Action Litigation Report shows that wage-and-hour court actions are growing at the highest rates in Pennsylvania, California, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, New York and Texas …

Can we dock pay for punching in late? Does the employee have a grace period?

03/01/2008
Q. Is there a rule for docking someone’s pay if he punches in late, and if so, how many minutes grace time does he get before you dock him 15 minutes?

Look at duties—Not job title—When determining FLSA status

03/01/2008
Too many employers make a common mistake when deciding whether an employee is entitled to overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA): They look at a job title and conclude that it sounds managerial—and therefore it must be an exempt position …