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FLSA

Supreme Court: Pharmaceutical reps exempt from FLSA OT rules

07/03/2012
The U.S. Supreme Court in June ruled that pharmaceutical sales representatives are indeed outside salespeople under the terms of the Fair Labor Standards Act in a case that could have far-reaching effects on other wage-and-hour issues.

Supreme Court: Pharmaceutical reps are outside salespersons

06/28/2012
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that pharmaceutical sales representatives qualify as exempt outside salespeople under the FLSA, even though they technically can’t and don’t sell anything. While this case directly affects drug companies, it could have a wider impact.

How should we pay for fluctuating workweek?

06/28/2012
Q. Our employees work irregular schedules. They may work for two weeks and then be off for three. Can we pay them every two weeks based on their average yearly income and, if they work more, pay them at an hourly rate?

What are the perils of inconsistent comp time?

06/28/2012
Q. Our employee manual doesn’t address compen­satory time off, but we have offered certain exempt managers an hour of comp time for every hour of overtime worked. Do we have to pay them for accrued comp time when we terminate them? In the past, we’ve paid comp time to some, but not to ­others. Can we negotiate our own terms with each employee?

Thinking about shrugging off employee suit? Then think about writing a really big check

06/27/2012
Here’s a caution for employers tempted to ignore a wage-and-hour lawsuit: Do so and you might as well just admit to the employees’ allegations. All the court has to do is determine the damages—plus figure out how much in legal fees the employer owes the employees.

Make sure time records can withstand scrutiny

06/27/2012

Employers are responsible for keeping track of the hours and minutes their employees work. If they can’t show their records are accurate, an underpaid overtime case can get costly. That’s because—absent reliable employer records—courts will let employees fill in the timekeeping details.

How should we handle nonexempt pay for overnight, off-site meeting trips?

06/25/2012
Q. We sometimes require our hourly employees to commute from the office to a two-day meeting that includes company-sponsored social activities and an overnight stay. They then return to the office after meetings on the second day. How do we pay them for this time?

7th Circuit: Clothes-changing, travel time are not compensable

06/25/2012
In Sandifer v. U.S. Steel Corp., the 7th Circuit held that an employer wasn’t required to pay employees for time spent changing into and out of work clothes and time spent traveling to and from the locker room and the work area.

When computing employee pay, are we allowed to round off employee working hours?

06/20/2012
Q. My company uses a time clock to track the hours of nonexempt employees. When we determine the wages to be paid to employees, can we round up or down to the nearest five-minute increment?

Overtime violations cost Downey nursing firm $654,082

06/20/2012
A lawsuit prompted by a DOL investigation has resulted in a court order requiring Extended Health Care Inc. of Downey to pay $654,082 to 108 nurses who alleged they missed out on overtime pay in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.