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Employment Law

‘Spiffs’ don’t count when establishing overtime exemption

07/01/2007

If you have an incentive system in which employees who sell a particular item get an additional set payment—commonly called a “spiff”—on top of other payments for selling the item, you can’t count the spiff as part of the commission …

Business as usual still the rule after employee complains

07/01/2007

Has an employee filed an EEOC discrimination complaint? If so, you should know that his or her attorney has probably encouraged that employee to look for any sign of retaliation—like a lowered performance evaluation, a demotion or closer scrutiny. Often, attorneys want to bolster their clients’ claims with tales of retribution. That doesn’t mean you should change the way you treat the employee …

You don’t necessarily have to pay for pre-Work activities

07/01/2007

Employers have struggled to figure out exactly when they must pay employees for pre-work activities ever since the U. S. Supreme Court decided that the Fair Labor Standards Act requires paying workers for the time they spend putting on protective clothing. It’s not enough to say that the time must be of benefit to the employer …

To be safe, always double-Check supervisor’s allegations

07/01/2007

When it comes to discharging an employee, be careful not to simply accept a supervisor’s opinion of the employee’s performance. If the supervisor is effectively hiding an underlying problem with persons belonging to a protected class and you don’t check for yourself whether the employee deserves to lose the job, you may end up costing the company money …

No double recovery under federal and state law

07/01/2007

Good news for government employers: Employees who sue for discrimination under both the federal Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the Florida Civil Rights Act don’t get to collect double damages …

No, I’m not God; I just play him on the PA

07/01/2007

Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport fired a skycap who broadcast an anti-gay message over the public address system around 1 am on May 1 …

Jury awards $160,000 for retaliation

07/01/2007

The South Florida Water Management District will pay $160,000 for firing an employee who complained of discrimination. The employee had a 31-year record of good reviews with the district until a new supervisor took over …

That’s a lot of quarters: City to pay meter reader $60K

07/01/2007

The City of Port St. Lucie will reinstate a demoted meter reader and pay her $60,000 to settle a race discrimination and USERRA lawsuit …

St. Pete man claims he was fired for sex harassment complaints

07/01/2007

A St. Petersburg forklift operator has filed suit against Kane’s Furniture, claiming he was fired for complaining about sexual harassment by a male supervisor …

Minority decision-Maker doesn’t prevent promotion bias

07/01/2007

Although it may defy logic to think that a member of a protected class would discriminate in hiring or promoting another member of the same class, having a minority decision-maker doesn’t automatically mean there’s no bias in the selection process …