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Compensation & Benefits

Tighter compliance on small firms or more business-friendly DOL?

08/01/2002
It could be some of both. The U.S. Labor Department recently announced it’s creating a new position, a director of compliance assistance who will make sure small businesses comply with regulations. …

Check the fine print on legal-liability insurance

08/01/2002
When a former executive sued his company for defamation, the company turned to its umbrella liability insurance policy to cover the defense cost. But the insurer refused and a federal appeals …

Expect new rules on who’s exempt; possible changes to comp-time law

08/01/2002
The U.S. Labor Department says it will rewrite the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) white-collar exemption rules for administrative, executive, professional and outside salespeople. Reason: Since those rules were drafted, some …

More companies opt for mandatory vacation, but is it legal?

08/01/2002
Continuing a cost-cutting step they took last year, some companies, especially tech firms, are again asking employees to take mandatory vacations. The forced time off, paid or not, is catching …

Payroll records: Fine-tune exempt, nonexempt timekeeping

08/01/2002
THE LAW. Federal wage-and-hour laws don’t require you to have a time clock, but they do require you to have a reliable system to keep track of employees’ hours and pay …

When to Pay for Rest Breaks

08/01/2002

Q. What’s the deal on paying workers for rest breaks? —J.S., California

You’re free to adjust benefit plan without fear of FMLA suit

07/01/2002
When it merged with another bank, Wells Fargo replaced its traditional employee sick- and vacation-leave policy with a paid-time-off (PTO) program and a short-term disability plan. A PTO policy combines annual …

Employees can use vacation time toward one-year FMLA eligibility

07/01/2002
Robert Ruder began working in management at a Maine hospital on Jan. 5, 2000. Exactly one year later, he left work for unspecified medical reasons. His employer denied his request for …

Eligibility for Holiday Pay Is Your Call

07/01/2002

Q. Is there a law that states the number of hours necessary to be considered full time for being eligible for paid holidays? Our handbook says an employee who works fewer than 40 hours a week is considered part time. An employee who works 34 hours a week wonders if he should be eligible for paid holidays. Our handbook says he’s not. Is that OK? —B.D., Michigan

Avoid Two-Tier Benefit Policy

07/01/2002

Q. We offer all employees two weeks’ paid vacation a year. If an employee chooses a 100-percent, full-commission pay structure, how should we set her pay for vacation? The employee wants to take her annual pay divided by 52 weeks, but we feel that’s unfair to the employees who are on salary plus commission, because their vacation pay is based on their base salary divided by 52 weeks. Is there a correct and legal way to figure this? —R.D., Florida