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Compensation & Benefits

What to do when employee is caught stealing

07/25/2008
Q. While a manager at one of our locations was on vacation, we performed an audit of her books and discovered that she had written unauthorized checks to herself totaling $25,000. We intend to confront her and terminate her. What else should we do? …

OK to refuse to pay unauthorized overtime?

07/25/2008
Q. We have a company policy forbidding unauthorized overtime in a workweek. May I refuse to pay overtime to an employee who works overtime without authorization? …

Job bias against women who’ve had abortions is illegal

07/24/2008

By now you know that employers can’t fire or otherwise punish employees because they’re pregnant. But what about employees who choose to have an abortion? Make sure your supervisors know it’s illegal to discriminate against them, too.

FMLA leave-Takers aren’t untouchable, but courts will look closely at timing

07/24/2008
Employers that come down hard on employees who have just requested FMLA leave are looking for trouble—especially if the employee was performing well until recently. The timing will look suspicious …

Refusing reinstatement after FMLA? Get your story straight

07/24/2008
Employees who take FMLA leave are entitled to return to their same jobs (or substantially equal ones) after leave ends. But what happens if employees can’t return to their same jobs because they aren’t completely well or able to do the same duties they did before?

Exempt employees and negative leave balances

07/24/2008
Q. I know I must pay exempt employees their full salaries even if they have no accrued benefits in their leave plans and their accounts have negative balances. But can I keep negative balance tallies and then subtract the negative balances as the employees earn more leave? …

Contractor decision costs FedEx $319 million as class action grows

07/24/2008
Official class notices were sent out in June to 27,165 present and former FedEx delivery drivers in the multidistrict lawsuit challenging the company’s independent contractor model. The court certified class-action status for drivers from 19 states, including Pennsylvania …

Feds ask former steelworkers to pay up for government’s mistake

07/24/2008
Hundreds of retired steelworkers in Pennsylvania, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and New York have been notified that their pensions are being cut by as much as 75% due to miscalculations by the federal government …

Employers pumping gas perks: 8 high-Octane tactics

07/24/2008
In a recent survey, nearly a third of HR professionals said they know at least one employee who quit in the past year because the high price of gas made the commute too expensive. Rather than watch those employees jump ship for jobs closer to home, some employers are actively addressing the driving dilemma …

Is that leave legit? You can discipline for FMLA ‘Vacation’

07/22/2008
Do you suspect that some of your employees take FMLA leave for something a little less serious than tending to the health care needs of themselves or their relatives? If so, here’s some good news: You can and should check up on suspicious FMLA usage …