FLSA

When register drawers are short, may we demand repayment out of cashiers’ pockets?

05/24/2012

Q. Management wants to institute a policy requiring cashiers whose registers are short at night’s end to replace the disputed amount out of their own pockets. Would that violate the law?

Warn supervisors: Wage mistakes could mean personal liability–and they would have to pay!

05/24/2012

Want to stop supervisors who allow off-the-clock work or look the other way when employees work unpaid overtime? Remind them that the Fair Labor Standards Act allows employees to sue supervisors who violate the law personally—not just the organization itself.

Stop overtime abuse with 4 steps, smart policy

05/21/2012

Do your employees understand exactly when they’re allowed to work overtime? Lax overtime rules are wasting billions of dollars at U.S. organizations and triggering more FLSA lawsuits than ever before. Here are four ways to stop unauthorized OT.

It’s not just the feds: States crack down on contractor misclassification

05/19/2012

The DOL and IRS continue to aggressively enforce laws against misclassifying employees as independent contractors. But a major shift has taken hold in the past two years, with state legislatures and regulators actively taking a greater role in cracking down on companies that misclassify workers as independent contractors.

Feds probe pay at restaurants in Los Angeles, San Francisco

05/18/2012

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division announced in April that it’s cracking down on alleged restaurant-industry violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Might we be covered by Minnesota’s OT rules?

05/10/2012

Q. We are a small employer and only have operations in Minnesota. I recently learned that Minnesota does not require overtime pay until after an employee has worked 48 hours in a workweek. Do we have to pay overtime after 40 hours or can we have employees work an extra eight hours before they are entitled to overtime?

If employee’s PTO is gone, can we dock his pay?

05/10/2012

Q. During our introductory period, new hires accrue PTO but they can’t use it until after six months. Can we dock an exempt employee’s pay if he wants a vacation day or sick day during this time? Or, after the six-month period, if an exempt employee has exhausted his PTO accrual, can he be docked pay?

DOL targets South Florida migrant labor practices

05/09/2012

The U.S. Department of Labor has filed two lawsuits against contractors providing workers to South Florida farms, following investigations into migrant laborers’ working conditions.

Warn bosses: Wage violations could mean personal liability–and they would have to pay!

05/09/2012

Want to stop supervisors who allow off-the-clock work or look the other way when employees work extra hours that should be paid overtime? Remind them that not only are their actions illegal under the FLSA, but they may be held personally liable in a lawsuit. That means their own assets are on the line, not just their employer’s.

No state law on break time: What does FLSA say?

05/07/2012

Q. I don’t think our state has any rules on meal or break times for hourly workers. Does federal law require us to give breaks?