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FLSA

When does extra work become a separate job?

12/27/2012

Q. We have an hourly employee who does clerical work during her normal 40 hours. She would also like to start cleaning the office two nights per week. Since these are two separate jobs, would she get overtime or could it be a separate payment?

Winter turns up the heat on wage-and-hour compliance

12/21/2012
Winter weather—and the delays and closures that sometimes accompany it—can make wage-and-hour compliance more difficult. If employees have a hard time getting to work, here’s the FLSA compliance guidance you need.

DOL: Raleigh restaurant must pay back wages

12/19/2012
Raleigh’s Dos Taquitos restaurant must fork over almost $50,000 in back pay to 26 employees the U.S. Department of Labor says were shortchanged.

Do we have to pay for unapproved overtime?

12/18/2012

Q. We have a policy requiring employees to get written permission before they are allowed to work any overtime. However, I have one employee who comes in early and stays late without approval. Must I pay him overtime?

Are there any downsides to paying a holiday premium to exempt employees?

12/18/2012
Q. Our policy says employees who work on holidays are paid time-and-a-half. If an exempt employee works on a holiday, can I pay him time-and-a-half?

Pittsburgh café to serve up back pay to employees

12/18/2012
The Point Brugge Café, in Pitts­­burgh’s East End, must pay $37,719 to 39 workers that the U.S. Depart­­ment of Labor says were stiffed by an illegal tip-pooling system.

DOL: Horsham steakhouse gauchos got gouged

12/18/2012
The parent company of na’Brasa Brazilian Steakhouse in Horsham will pay $110,369 to 42 workers following a DOL investigation that concluded the restaurant misclassified servers in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

FLSA personal liability hits some, misses others

12/13/2012
The Fair Labor Standards Act is expansive enough to classify individual managers and corporate officers as employers. Upshot: You can be individually liable for FLSA violations. Key: the amount and degree of operational control you have over employees.

Can’t stop employee from working off the clock? Fire him for willful misconduct

12/12/2012
What can employers do when em­­ployees insist on clocking out and continuing to work? Warn them—and then discipline them. If you terminate employees for refusing to listen, they won’t be eligible for un­­em­­ployment compensation and you will also protect your company from an overtime lawsuit.

Feds trim $106K in back pay from Midland landscaper

12/03/2012
Seventy current and former landscaping employees will rake in $106,818 following a U.S. Depart­­ment of Labor investigation of their Midland employer’s wage-and-hour practices.