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Compensation & Benefits

Conversations among co-workers can be enough to certify class-action lawsuit

06/13/2019
When an employee claims she wasn’t paid properly under the Fair Labor Standards Act, she can ask the court to represent all other similarly situated workers in a potentially costly class-action suit. It doesn’t take much more than a few casual conversations with co-workers for a single plaintiff to move a class-action lawsuit forward.

U.S. again ranks dead last in mandatory paid vacation

06/11/2019
The United States continues to be the only nation with an advanced economy that does not guarantee its workers any paid vacation time or holidays.

Traditional pensions have virtually disappeared

06/11/2019
Only 11% of private-sector workers participate in a traditional defined-benefit pension plan, according to new data from the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

The other shoe drops for 2020 withholding: Pub. 15-T

06/10/2019
The IRS is serious about changing withholding for 2020. Just one week after releasing the draft W-4, it has released a draft of the employer’s instructions—new Pub. 15-T.

Any risk of not reducing demoted worker’s pay?

06/10/2019
Q. We moved a salaried supervisor to a rank-and-file hourly position, but we left him at the higher salary. Now, several co-workers are complaining that they’re being paid less for the same job and grumbling about discrimination. The co-workers are of different nationalities than the former supervisor. Should we raise the co-workers’ salaries if we want to be as cautious as possible to avoid a lawsuit?

Texas ‘gig’ workers soon ineligible for unemployment comp

06/10/2019
It’s a hot legal issue: What are workers who utilize online digital platforms to obtain business and deliver services to third parties? Are they employees or independent contractors? Some federal agencies have already weighed in. Now Texas may be reducing some uncertainty, at least where unemployment benefits are concerned.

Beware wage-and-hour lawsuits that might suddenly turn into class actions

06/10/2019
Here’s another reason to make sure you are carefully following the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime rules: Just one disgruntled and allegedly underpaid employee can file a class-action lawsuit and get the court to authorize contacting all other similarly situated workers to join in as plaintiffs.

Pay for time spent in disciplinary meeting?

06/06/2019
Q. Last week, we asked a worker to come in early to discuss a complaint about her work that had come to our attention. We issued her a written warning. We did not pay her for the approximately 30 minutes we spent with her before she was scheduled to come in to work. Now, she’s threatening a wage-and-hour complaint. Did we make a mistake?

In L.A., a cautionary tale of self-insured health coverage

06/06/2019
Most employers worry about how to contain their health care costs. But some seemingly innovative solutions, such as multi-employer self-insurance plans, may not be as good as they appear to be—if they are irresponsibly administered.

DOL: Belmont, Saratoga horse trainer broke H-2B visa rules

06/04/2019
It’s no secret that the Trump administration is tough on undocumented immigrants. But it’s also holding employers to account when they don’t follow the rules for visa-holding immigrants and temporary workers.