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Q&A

Hiring employees from competitor

03/14/2011
Q. We are hiring a high-level employee who will come to us from our major competitor. She has no noncompete agreement with her current employer. Is that our only risk?

Must we pay for lactation breaks?

03/14/2011
Q. We run a manufacturing plant. Our break policy allows employees to take up to two breaks each shift to use the restroom. As long as the employees return to their posts within 10 minutes, the breaks are paid. We have an employee who is nursing and using her breaks to express breast milk. This usually takes about 15 minutes each break. Can we treat these breaks as unpaid?

Is it OK to pay an exempt employee an hourly wage for taking on nonexempt work?

03/14/2011
Q. We recently advertised internally for a current employee to do six to eight hours per week of office cleaning for an hourly wage. An exempt employee responded indicating that he would like the extra pay. Is it OK to pay him the hourly rate for his share of the cleaning work in addition to his salary?

How do we legally correct errors on I-9s?

03/10/2011
Q. I found some minor errors in our I-9 forms. For example, some have signatures on the wrong line. Is it legal to correct the errors or do I need to have the forms filled out again? If I do new forms, should I back-date them?

What can employers opting out of workers’ comp do to minimize the threat of lawsuits?

03/04/2011
Q. My company is a nonsubscriber under the Texas Workers’ Compensation Act and has its own on-the-job employee injury benefit plan. Is there any way to decrease the likelihood of employees who receive benefits under the plan later suing the company and recovering damages related to their injuries?

Will bonuses affect employees’ ‘regular rate’ when calculating overtime pay under the FLSA?

03/04/2011
Q. We want to offer incentive bonuses to hourly workers in order to increase business and productivity. Will these bonuses affect the employees’ “regular rate” under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for purposes of overtime calculation?

Can we require employee to use Medicare?

03/04/2011
Q. We have an older employee who is now eligible for Medicare. Can we require him to take Medicare coverage instead of our health plan?

Can we make direct deposit mandatory?

02/28/2011
Q. Can a business require employees to use direct deposit to receive their pay?

How should we go about changing severance pay policies spelled out in employment agreements?

02/28/2011
Q. Can we reduce the severance amounts cited in employment agreements we have with certain staff as long as we notify them of the change?

Romance gone bad: What can we do to discourage relationships between employees?

02/28/2011
Q. Two of our employees are having a romantic relationship. One is married. The wife of the married employee came to our facility and demanded to speak with the other woman. We didn’t permit them to speak on the premises. Can we do anything to discourage employee romances or is that strictly off-limits?