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FLSA

While she took off clothes, boss took OT and tips

05/03/2012
New York City exotic dancer Crystal DiCesare is suing Dial-A-Dancer—a company that sends strippers and porn stars to entertain at private functions—for violating the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Port Arthur firm must pay more than $170,000 in OT

04/30/2012
Port Arthur-based Performance Blasting and Coating must pay $170,622 in back overtime pay to 314 current and former painters and sandblasters, following a U.S. Department of Labor investigation.

Feds cracking down on Dallas hotel pay practices

04/30/2012
The DOL has announced an initiative to investigate employee misclassification in the hospitality industry in Dallas. According to a department statement, previous investigations “have found significant and systemic violations of the minimum wage, overtime pay and record-keeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.”

You must pay for training that isn’t truly voluntary

04/30/2012
Do you require employees to complete after-hours training that will ben­­efit your operations but isn’t directly job-related? If so, you must pay them for their time, unless you can show that participation is truly voluntary.

Always enforce ‘no unauthorized OT’ policy

04/30/2012
The first step to controlling overtime costs is to establish a sound policy forbidding unauthorized extra work for hourly employees. But a “no unauthorized overtime” policy is just the beginning. You must also enforce the policy for all nonexempt employees, and make sure managers understand why it is important.

Who is an exempt professional under the FLSA?

04/29/2012
Q. We are a social services organization. After employees make home visits to clients, they must file reports within 24 hours, even if that means they must work on weekends. Most of these employees have two-year associate degrees; some have bachelor’s degrees. Can we treat these social workers as exempt employees under the FLSA?

Beware minimum wage, OT violations–you could owe double damages, and more

04/27/2012
Here’s an incentive to make sure you pay employees properly: Failing to pay minimum wage or overtime may mean a lawsuit that goes back three years. Plus, winning employees receive twice what they were owed—and their attorneys collects legal fees commensurate with their time and effort.

Officer doggedly seeks overtime pay for K-9 care

04/24/2012
Penn Township Police Officer Ross Piraino has a bone to pick with his employer. In 2009 Piraino began caring for the police department’s German shepherd Charro at his home. Now Piraino is suing, claiming he is entitled to overtime for time spent caring for Charro at home.

Paying nonexempt employees a salary? Be sure to get agreement on hourly rate

04/19/2012
Determining the amount of overtime pay depends on employees’ hourly rate of pay for the first 40 hours. That can sometimes be more complicated than it sounds, especially for employers that pay their hourly employees a set amount for their entire workweek, including overtime.

DOL goes nuts on Sunnyvale’s Crazy Buffet

04/19/2012
A federal judge has ordered Sunnyvale-based Crazy Buffet to pay its workers $404,000 in damages following a U.S. Department of Labor investigation. The Chinese-food buffet restaurant had a policy of not paying wages to workers, although it allowed them to keep their tips.