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FLSA

Design bonus payments to reduce OT liability

06/01/2007
Do you hand out discretionary bonuses? If so, you may be paying more overtime than necessary—and mishandling bonus payments could land you in court.

Docking pay isn’t legal; rounding time normally is

06/01/2007

Q. Is it permissible to dock pay for someone who clocks in late? We pay the employee for actual hours worked to the nearest quarter hour, but we also dock tardy employees an additional quarter hour.—P.P.

Track all hours worked just in case exempt status fails

06/01/2007

Many employers assume they don’t need to keep track of the hours exempt employees actually work. Wrong! Since it’s conceivable that employees could contest their exempt status, you should track all hours worked by all employees …

FLSA and Georgia law: Figuring overtime pay for commission employees

06/01/2007

Georgia’s labor code contains no overtime exemption for commission-paid employees, but the federal Fair Labor Standards Act does. Georgia employers largely follow the federal law because it’s more stringent than state law. So employees who are paid on a commission basis are exempt from overtime laws, right?…

New study turns up heat on child labor compliance

06/01/2007

Many teenagers operate hazardous equipment at work and fail to receive appropriate safety training, according to a new study by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health …

Setting overtime with Pa. agency covers fed claim too

06/01/2007

Good news for employers: If an employee files an overtime claim with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry and the department settles the case and collects wages for the employee, the employee can’t turn around and also sue under the FLSA …

Pay for training time

06/01/2007

Q. If our organization offers voluntary training to our employees and the training takes place during their lunch hour, do we have to pay the employees for the time spent attending the training? 

Make sure agreement doesn’t include no-Lawsuit clause

06/01/2007

Using independent contractors can save money on benefits, overtime, workers’ compensation and a whole host of other costs associated with having employees. But watch out if your agreements with independent contractors include a clause prohibiting them from taking “a position contrary” to their status as independent contractors …

Goodyear pays $227,792 in back wages to Texas workers

06/01/2007

The U.S. Labor Department (DOL) recently announced that Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., following a 2006 judgment, has paid 211 employees $227,792 in back wages. The wage awards went to current and former technicians at its Houston and Bayport chemical plants …

Get Well-Versed in Overtime or Face Bad-Faith Damages

05/01/2007

Ignorance of the law is no excuse when it comes to deciding who’s exempt from overtime and who gets paid hourly …