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Compensation & Benefits

Mold at work spawns new class of workers’ comp claim

12/01/2009

For the first time in the United States, an employee has successfully won workers’ compensation benefits for mold exposure, even though the industry involved—a car dealership—normally has no greater exposure to mold than any other. Black mold exposure has caused tens of thousands of people to become sick—but most of those cases involve mold growing in people’s homes.

Must we pay for steel-toed protective boots?

12/01/2009

Q. Most of our employees wear safety steel-toed boots. One of our employees said his boots are worn out and we are required to reimburse him when he buys a new pair. Is that correct?

Employees awarded $2M … lawyer blows it day trading

12/01/2009

An Orange County attorney has agreed to plead guilty to two felony charges after frittering away millions of dollars of his clients’ settlement awards—by placing losing bets on the stock market. Sandeep Baweja, sole proprietor of Baweja Law Group, was representing 800 real estate agents who sued their employer for denying commissions and other payments.

What can we do? We accidentally overpaid an employee who was out on workers’ comp leave

12/01/2009

Q. While one of our employees was on workers’ compensation leave, she received disability payments. Due to a clerical error, we failed to take her off the payroll during that time, and she continued to receive her regular paychecks while on leave. The employee now refuses to sign an agreement to return the money on a payment schedule we were willing to set up. As a result, we would like to dock her pay for the overpayments. Are we allowed to do so?

How to hand out holiday bonuses

12/01/2009

Q. I started a business a few years ago, but this is the first year that I actually have an office with employees. I would like to give them holiday bonuses this year. What are the legal guidelines I should follow?

Holiday help for HR professionals

12/01/2009

Here’s a round-up of HR advice to heed as the holidays roll around. Click on the links below for answers to holiday questions posed by our readers, as well as a slew of tips to keep things festive without finding a subpeona in your stocking:

The do’s and don’ts of giving and receiving holiday gifts

12/01/2009

Q. Are there any legal issues regarding employee gift-giving during the holidays? What about giving or getting gifts from vendors?

Workers want longer days, shorter weeks? Lower hourly pay may dodge OT obligations

12/01/2009

Sometimes, employees prefer to work longer than eight hours a day in exchange for more days off. Ordinarily, changing schedules to accommodate such a request would mean paying overtime for the additional hours in excess of eight per day under California law. But now, in a unique case, the 9th Circuit has ruled that, in limited circumstances, changing the hourly rate for those who want the longer shifts doesn’t violate the law …

Can an employee opt out of mandatory breaks?

12/01/2009

Q. An employee has asked to work through his two daily 10-minute rest periods because he would like to leave work 20 minutes early. Are we permitted to implement this arrangement upon his request?

Family Dollar: 1 win, 1 loss in overtime litigation

12/01/2009

Discounts are scarce for retailer Family Dollar, which will begin paying out an estimated $35 million to employees it misclassified as exempt from overtime laws in Alabama. A similar case in North Carolina resulted in a Family Dollar victory.