09/01/2010
Employees have to work at least 1,250 hours in a year to qualify for FMLA leave. They also must have been employed for a total of one year. Thus, while many part-time employees may qualify for FMLA leave, others won’t because they haven’t met those thresholds. But now some hourly employees and their attorneys are trying a new approach.
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08/27/2010
Q. We use a timecard punch-in/punch-out system. If an employee forgets to punch in, and we manually do it, do any labor laws apply?
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08/27/2010
Q. Can we require full-time nonexempt employees to attend work-related functions after regular hours? If so, should this time be compensated?
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08/25/2010
If yours is a business engaged in professional practices like law, medicine or accounting, your organization may have partners or shareholders who receive paychecks. Know that such shareholders probably can’t sue for discriminatory practices under Title VII and other anti-discrimination and employment laws.
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08/23/2010
California is a great state—for employees who want to sue their employers. Even the wage statements employees get with their paychecks can lead to lawsuits. Advice: Have your attorney take a look at those pay stubs to make sure they comply with California wage-and-hour laws.
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08/18/2010
Q. How has the recent DOL interpretation letter addressed an employer’s obligation to pay employees for time spent changing clothes?
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08/18/2010
Q. One of our exempt employees is in the Reserve. He is going on a two-week training session that starts on a Tuesday. That means he will work on Monday, the start of our week. Do we have to pay him for the whole week when he is only going to be here Monday?
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08/12/2010
Q. Our company has a confidentiality policy about employee wages. We recently learned that one of our employees has been violating this policy by disclosing his hourly pay rate to co-workers. Can we terminate this employee for violating our company policy?
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08/12/2010
For employers and job-seekers alike, unpaid internships seem like an attractive option. But internships come with risks. Before you begin taking on interns, do a thoughtful and careful analysis to make sure state and federal law allows you to classify an individual as an unpaid intern rather than a paid employee.
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08/06/2010
Q. We recently sent an employee home for not following his supervisor’s instructions. Do we have an obligation to pay him for the full day regardless? How should we handle this situation in the future? Is this considered administrative leave?
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08/05/2010
Q. We have an employee who will be returning from maternity leave next month. I read that the new law requires us to provide time for her to pump milk. Do we have to pay her for those breaks?
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07/23/2010
Hidden deep within the recently enacted health care reform legislation is a provision that garnered neither debate nor controversy in the media or the halls of Congress. The law amends the FLSA to require large employers to provide lactation breaks and facilities for employees who are breastfeeding.
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07/22/2010
Q. We require all employees to be in by 9 a.m. One of our exempt employees is constantly late. Can we discipline exempt employees for poor attendance?
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07/20/2010
Q. We have always paid our waiters less than the minimum wage because of the tips they earn. Are we permitted to count tips as part of the minimum wage as long as we notify our employees of this practice and their actual tips equal or exceed the tip credit?
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07/20/2010
Q. We are a small company. Two of our employees in the same department have asked to take vacation at the same time. We’re afraid that we will be short-staffed if both employees are out at the same time. Can we institute a policy preventing employees from being out simultaneously?
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