Ask the Attorney Archives

Q: “Can a board of county commissioners in South Dakota have a nonexempt employee sign a document to the effect that the employee would not ask for overtime pay or comp time off? The employee has agreed not to come back to the county in the future for any compensation. HR feels federal law supersedes this agreement.” – Tim, South Dakota

Q: “If an employee is going out for surgery but is ordered by her physician that she needs to quarantine for 14 days prior to her scheduled surgery, is she eligible to receive compensation under the Emergency Paid Sick Leave law?” – Cecilia, Ca.

Q: We have mostly hourly, part-time, shift-based employees. We instituted a once per year small discretionary loyalty bonus. If the amount is fixed, for example $100 per year of employment, some people tell us we need to recalculate the overtime rates for all 26 prior periods (which will amount to pennies, but cost us hours to do). It is impractical in a very small (12-18 employees). We are looking at calculating the bonus at 0.2% of total past year compensation. For example, for one employee, it will be $86.13. Can we round it with a discretionary bonus of $13.87 to get a round number bonus of $100.00? Are there other options to give a reward without the whole pain of overtime recalculation? – Alan, Tx.

Q: “Is it the responsibility of the employer to furnish masks to employees returning to work?” – Denise, District of Columbia