• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

Q&A

Make Full-Day Deductions, Not Partial, for Exempt Staff

06/01/2004

Q. If an exempt employee uses all her sick time and vacation time, then takes a half day off for personal reasons, can I deduct for that half day, or does it have to be a whole day? Has that changed under the new law? —Barbara, Louisiana

New exemption definitions aren’t retroactive

06/01/2004

Q. If, according to the revised Labor Department regulations, we’ve been improperly classifying certain employees, would we need to go back and reimburse them? At that time, we thought they were properly classified. —Becky, Texas

Commissions count in tallying highly compensated exemption

06/01/2004

Q. I have a question about the new highly compensated exemption. I have inside salespeople and their base salary is about $40,000, but their commissions net them over $130,000 a year. Could I classify them as exempt? —Michelle, California

Look at big picture to determine ‘Primary Duty’

06/01/2004

Q. The duties test under the Labor Department’s overtime regulations talks about determining the employee’s “primary duty.” How do we determine that? —Marie, Pennsylvania

Payroll managers typically fall in nonexempt class

06/01/2004

Q. We have a payroll manager who handles our payroll and FMLA policies. In our last audit, we were told that because her primary duty is payroll, she did not fall under the administrative exemption. Is that true? —Juliette, Florida

Return pregnant employee to equivalent job

05/01/2004

Q. When an employee returns from maternity leave, do we have to give her the very same job she had or can she be put to work in a different type of position? —J.B., North Carolina

Even ‘Optional’ company events carry risks

05/01/2004

Q. Awhile back you suggested that we provide transportation home for employees who suffer an illness that could be work-related. Would that apply to company parties for which employees’ attendance is voluntary? —C.K, Illinois

Job openings: No duty to notify employees on leave

05/01/2004

Q. One of our employees is on leave after giving birth. She may qualify for a position that recently opened up. Do we have an obligation to notify her of that opening? —R.D., Ohio

Don’t dock employees for time worked

05/01/2004

Q. We give employees the choice of using two 10-minute breaks each day or combining them into one 20-minute lunch break. The employees are required to punch out and in for these breaks. Now, we have a policy that docks employees 15 minutes if they’re four or more minutes late returning from a break. Is this legal? —J.B., Texas

Carefully Craft Policy to Avoid Paid-Leave ‘Stacking’

04/01/2004

Q. A pregnant employee eligible for FMLA wants to take the 12 weeks of leave. Our leave policy says an employee on FMLA must first use his or her sick, vacation and personal leave, in that order, before the leave is unpaid. In this case, the employee has enough sick leave for the 12 weeks. But should she be allowed to use sick leave for the entire 12 weeks? Is this in our best interest? —M.P., Texas