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Compensation & Benefits

Top 10 things to know about North Carolina Wage and Hour Act

04/23/2008
Many employers are familiar with the basic requirements of federal wage-and-hour law—the minimum wage, how to calculate overtime and who must receive it. But the North Carolina Wage and Hour Act is often a mystery to employers and employees alike. Here are the top 10 things you should know about the act …

Wachovia sued for back wages

04/23/2008
Carrie Williams, an employee at a Wachovia call center in Alabama, has filed a lawsuit alleging the company failed to pay employees for time spent logging onto computers before taking calls …

Mishawaka guardsman prompts national benefits policy change

04/22/2008
Brendan Milczynski, a member of the Indiana National Guard, noticed a discrepancy in benefits for the staff members who serve his unit and those who serve Army Reserve units. Milczynski contacted U.S. Rep. Joe Donnelly, who asked the Department of Defense to review its policies …

Georgia Tech issues pink slips for alleged misuse of p-Cards

04/21/2008
Two former Georgia Institute of Technology employees were charged with theft in March for allegedly abusing state-issued credit cards, known as p-cards. At least 17 university employees have resigned, retired or been fired over p-card abuse. A recent audit revealed inadequate oversight of card use at the university …

FMLA entitles you to request proof worker’s parent has serious health condition

04/21/2008
Do you routinely accept employees’ claims they need FMLA time off to care for an elderly parent? If so, consider a new policy. While it may be easier to approve leave than to challenge it, blanket approvals may prove costly in the long run as more and more “sandwich generation” employees find themselves having to care for both their children and their elderly parents …

How to respond when employees’ creditors come calling

04/21/2008

Record numbers of bankruptcies and foreclosures have been making news for years. However, a quieter phenomenon—one fraught with traps for unwary employers—is a concurrent and growing trend of court-ordered or government-issued wage garnishments. Here’s practical advice on what to do when someone wants a piece of your employee’s paycheck.

Prepping for work: How much time do you have to pay for?

04/21/2008
Perhaps no other aspect of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is more confusing than the so-called “donning and doffing” provisions. Exactly what preliminary preparation before work and cleanup after work should be included in paid time? Fortunately, a recent case helps clarify that employers don’t need to pay workers for many preliminary and post-work activities …

The HR burden of administering garnishments

04/18/2008
Q. We have received garnishment orders for several employees. This could pose an administrative burden on our small HR department. What can we do to reduce this burden? …

Employees live on premises? Here’s how to compensate

04/18/2008
Do you require some employees to live on the premises so they can be on call to provide emergency or other services? If so, you can structure the compensation system to pay only for actual time worked. You don’t have to compensate them for the time spent waiting to deal with some work-related matter …

Good ol’ boy network could cost you millions

04/18/2008
Is there’s a “good ol’ boy” network growing in your organization? If promotions and raises tend to go just to employees who win management’s favor—and not to those who perform, regardless of race or gender—you could easily find yourself on the losing end of a big lawsuit. How big? Try $24 million!