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Employment Law

Save big bucks: Consult Labor Dept. before denying overtime

03/01/2008
Violate the Fair Labor Standards Act at your peril. If you incorrectly classify an employee as exempt and refuse to pay overtime, you face a possible three-year willful violation statute of limitations—plus the possibility a court will double what you owe. Before you decide an employee is exempt, consult the U.S. Labor Department or a qualified employment law attorney …

Ensure your harassment policy includes requirement to promptly report violations

03/01/2008
Does your company’s sexual harassment policy include a provision that tells employees they must promptly report alleged sexual harassment? If it doesn’t, consider adding such a clause. The wording may help if an employee waits to report that her supervisor was allegedly harassing her …

Making exceptions to the rule can turn the exception into the rule

03/01/2008
Organizations create rules for a reason—mainly to ensure order and fairness. So when a manager or supervisor bends the rules just for some people, he or she may be setting up the organization for a lawsuit. Essentially, the exceptions become the rule, and employees who don’t benefit may sue, alleging discrimination based on a protected characteristic …

AT&T and BellSouth face back-Wage suit

03/01/2008

AT&T Corp. and BellSouth Corp., based in Atlanta, have been hit with a class-action unpaid wage and overtime lawsuit in U.S. District Court, Northern District. The lawsuit seeks back wages for time worked before and after shifts and during meals and rest breaks on behalf of employees in call centers in several states …

Cobb megachurch leader surrenders to authorities

03/01/2008
Archbishop Earl Paulk, longtime pastor of the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit at Chapel Hill Harvester Church, in January pleaded guilty to felony perjury in a case that stems from a lawsuit by a former church employee, who alleged the minister manipulated her into an affair …

Must arbitration agreements be initialed by employer and employee?

03/01/2008
Q. My company implemented an employment arbitration program several years ago, applicable to employees in all states, including Georgia. I recently have been told that Georgia law has special employment arbitration rules requiring that both the employer and the employee initial arbitration agreements in order to be enforceable. Is this true? We don’t do this …

Study: Big increase in wage-Related lawsuits in ’07

03/01/2008
Fair Labor Standards Act lawsuits outnumbered cases relating to employment discrimination and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act in 2007, and the trend will likely continue in 2008, according to an annual study by the law firm Seyfarth Shaw LLP …

IBM fixes overtime problem … with a pay cut

03/01/2008
For years, IBM Corp. was haunted by a big overtime lawsuit filed by its highly compensated technical-support employees.  Now, nearly two years later, IBM has reclassified 7,600 technical-support employees, making them eligible for overtime. But the company also reduced their base pay by about 15% …

Warn staff of new e-Mail scams using IRS’ name

03/01/2008
The IRS last month posted a warning to taxpayers about e-mail and phone-based scams that falsely use the IRS’ name. The goal: Trick you into giving up your Social Security number, credit card info and other key financial data …

Business.gov now offers state compliance advice

03/01/2008
The U.S. government’s main web site for business regulatory compliance, www.Business.gov, has always billed itself as the go-to site for federal compliance. But its new search features and expanded content now allow you to search for information on regulatory information from state and local governments, too …