HR Law 101: The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) covers the federal minimum wage, rules on overtime pay and child labor regulations. Since the U.S. Labor Deparment recently overhauled the overtime rules, it's critical to make sure you're properly classifying workers as exempt or nonexempt ...

HR Law 101: To ensure you’re in compliance with the FLSA, it’s important to understand the definition of “hours of work.” Any hour when an employee’s on duty is considered time worked. The only period usually excluded: when an employee uses the time for personal reasons ...

HR Law 101: In May 2007, Congress voted to increase the federal minimum wage from $5.15 per hour to $7.25 per hour over a two-year period. The minimum wage will increase in three phases by 70 cents per hour ...

HR Law 101: Employers must pay overtime to nonexempt employees who work more than 40 hours in a single workweek. The overtime rate is one and a half times an employee’s hourly rate. If an employee earns a fixed hourly rate with no other compensation, computing the base rate is easy. But in many cases, it’s not so simple ...

HR Law 101: The child labor provisions in the Fair Labor Standards Act restrict the amount of time and conditions under which minors age 17 and younger are permitted to work ...

HR Law 101: When a new hire comes on board, you must determine whether to classify him or her as exempt or nonexempt under the FLSA. The key consideration: Exempt workers aren’t eligible for overtime pay. Rather, they’re paid for the job they do, not the hours they keep ...

HR Law 101: To be considered exempt from overtime, an employee must generally be paid on a salary basis and his or her job duties must meet the Labor Department’s standards for one of the six exemption categories. Use this self-audit to test whether you’re properly classifying your workers as exempt under the FLSA ...

HR Law 101: The Fair Labor Standards Act requires employers to keep records on wages, hours and other employee data, most of which is generally maintained in ordinary business practice. You don’t need to keep the records in any particular form or use time clocks ...