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Compensation & Benefits

It’s OK to slightly alter FMLA leave-taker’s job

04/01/2005
Issue: As a new ruling shows, you can make minor changes to an employee’s job while he or she is on FMLA leave.
Benefit: Increased staffing flexibility, decreased liability under …

Shifting to paid-time-off plan? You’re not alone

04/01/2005
In an effort to minimize employee-absence costs, more employers are dumping traditional absence policies in favor of paid time-off (PTO) plans. Such plans lump together time-off benefits (sick days, vacation days, …

You can adjust salaries based on occasional business ups and downs

04/01/2005
Employees must be paid on a “salary basis” to be declared exempt from overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). In the past, some employers tried to evade that …

High court to answer ‘donning’ and ‘doffing’ questions

04/01/2005
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed last month to take up cases that could affect your payroll practices under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), particularly if you employ people who must …

Keep salary offers in check for new college grads

04/01/2005
Starting pay for new grads will remain modest this year, except in certain fields, such as tech and engineering, the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) predicts.
In a …

Office business manager: Exempt or nonexempt?

04/01/2005

Q. We’re a nine-physician medical clinic, and we employ a salaried business manager. She makes less than $100,000 but more than $23,660 per year. Her duties include personnel, hiring and firing, and office work. We don’t give her comp time or overtime pay. If she takes a partial day off, she must use vacation time (paid time off). In light of the new (FLSA, overtime) rules, are we handling this correctly? —B.B., Missouri

Monthly pay is OK, but keep payday consistent

04/01/2005

Q. Doesn’t federal law say employees must be paid within two weeks of completing their work, no matter the excuse (computer glitch, etc.)? —A.L., Virginia

Help employees simplify expense reporting

04/01/2005
If employees waste a lot of work time filling out expense reports from a bundle of receipts, check out a new NeatReceipts software and scanner package that captures images of receipts …

Paying men more than women with the same job titles?

04/01/2005
Issue: As a new ruling shows, a female’s job must be “virtually identical” to a male’s to support an equal-pay lawsuit.
Benefit: You don’t have to fear paying different wages …

Where your religious-accommodation responsibilities stop

04/01/2005
Issue: How far must you go to oblige an employee’s religious practices under federal job-discrimination law?
Benefit: A new ruling says that you don’t need to accommodate religious requests when …