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FLSA

Starbucks Steamed Over $100M Verdict

03/25/2008
A California Superior Court decision ordering coffee giant Starbucks to pay its baristas $100 million in lost tips has the company in a froth. Trouble has been brewing since it instituted a policy letting supervisors split tip income with hourly workers. You don’t want to find yourself in the same hot water.

HR legislation in Congress: What’s hot, what’s not?

03/11/2008
Being an election year, it will be harder for Congress to ram through any major legislation. But some important labor and employment bills are still being hotly debated this year. Here are nine of the key bills and their chances for passage, according to a policy update given at yesterday’s SHRM conference.

Travel time and the FLSA: When must you pay?

03/04/2008
To pay or not to pay for travel time? That question has baffled many an employer. Here’s a concise explanation of how you should handle three different travel scenarios—plus Fair Labor Standards Act definitions of “hours worked.”

Fluctuating workweek

03/01/2008

Q. My work hours fluctuate a lot depending upon the flow of work. To help manage its cash flow, my employer asked me to sign an agreement where I would receive a set salary each workweek regardless of the number of hours I work. In weeks where I work more than 40 hours, I am paid half-time for overtime hours, instead of time and a half. Can my employer do this? My position is nonexempt …

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 …