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Compensation & Benefits

‘Parent Shift’ Program Allows Nurses to Work Two-Hour Shifts

12/01/2006

To help working parents manage their lives, the Cleveland Clinic allows nurses to work shifts of as little as two hours a day. Chief nursing officer Claire Young created the "Parent Shift" program because rigid shift schedules were preventing working mothers from returning to work after having children …

Brokerage house overtime case serves as cautionary tale

12/01/2006

One disgruntled worker’s lawsuit has turned into a class-action headache for brokerage firm Barclay’s Capital …

Prepare to pay overtime to more delivery drivers

12/01/2006
You no longer can rely on the "motor carrier exemption" in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to avoid paying overtime to delivery drivers who use vans and pickup trucks on their routes.

Navigating the National Labor Relations Act

12/01/2006

Congress passed the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) in 1935 largely as a way of raising depression-era wages. The law gives employees basic rights to participate in unions, bargain collectively about compensation/ work conditions and engage in other protected "concerted activities" …

Pay travel expenses for new, longer commute?

12/01/2006

Q. One of our employees normally reports to a facility. But he’s out on workers’ comp and is doing light duty in the office, which is an extra hour of commuting time. I know we don’t have to pay for his commuting time, but what about his travel expenses? —M.T., Massachusetts

Unpaid helper or official employee? Beware blurry line

12/01/2006

If you allow someone to perform work yet you never officially hire the person, don’t think you can avoid paying by calling her a volunteer. She’s your employee and must earn at least minimum wage …

Court Ruling May Ease Threat of Class-Action FLSA Suits

12/01/2006

In recent years, employers have faced an onslaught of Fair Labor Standards Act class-action lawsuits over allegedly unpaid overtime. Now, a second district court in the 3rd Circuit has dismissed combined state and federal overtime class-action lawsuits

Must you pay workers for time spent learning English?

12/01/2006

If you have non-English speaking employees, you may be making efforts to help improve their language skills. But in which cases must you pay employees for that training time? …

Navigating Pennsylvania’s new minimum wage law

12/01/2006

For many Pennsylvania employers, the state’s new minimum wage law taking effect Jan. 1, 2007, is straightforward: It raises the minimum wage they must pay employees to $6.25 per hour from the current federally mandated rate of $5.15. The law, however, has numerous loopholes that you need to know about

How to pay hourly workers for weekend travel time

12/01/2006

Q. How do you pay hourly employees who are traveling on a day that’s not considered a workday, like Saturday or Sunday? What if they normally have a 10-minute commute to the office but instead they have to go to the airport, and the airport is an hour from their home?