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Wages & Hours

Green light on class actions for employees willing to gamble

01/09/2009

Employees can file class-action lawsuits on behalf of all similarly situated employees to recover unpaid overtime and other unpaid wages—if they are willing to give up their statutory rights to penalties and liquidated damages under New York State labor laws.

Staffing company owes $113,000 to Long Island club workers

01/09/2009

Star One Staffing has agreed to pay $113,000 in back wages and damages to 70 Filipino workers who served as waiters, waitresses and bus staff at exclusive Long Island country clubs.

Must we pay for short smoking breaks?

01/09/2009

Q. Would a brief clock-out (initiated by the employee) of less than 20 minutes, such as an impromptu smoking break or personal phone call break, need to be paid as work time?

Can we deduct personal leave for exempt worker’s partial-day absence?

01/09/2009

Q. Some of our supervisors make their exempt employees take personal or sick leave for every minute they miss from work, even if they work a regular schedule the rest of the week. Can we safely do that?

Appeal to 50+ staff with tailored benefits, relevant messages

01/05/2009

Organizations that appeal most to employees age 50 and older make it a point to focus recruiting efforts on that group. And they stuff their benefits packages with perks that help older employees balance work with caregiving responsibilities. Here are five best practices your organization can adopt.

Deployed employees get full pay, benefits, monthly care packages

01/05/2009

The seven Shared Technologies employees who are serving in the military in Iraq or elsewhere get a monthly reminder that they’re still members of the team at the Texas company.

Must we compensate for travel time?

01/05/2009

Q. I have an employee who has a substantial daily commute—75 miles each way. Do I have to compensate the employee for time spent traveling to and from work?

Do year-end bonuses affect pay status?

01/05/2009

Q. What effect do end-of-year bonus payments have on a nonexempt recipient’s hourly rate of pay?

What are the child labor rules?

01/05/2009

Q. I own a pizza shop. Is it legal for me to hire a 15-year-old to work in the store?

DOL cracks down on OT cases: Houston firm an early target

01/05/2009

JVA Insulation Inc. of Houston has agreed to pay $203,640 in back wages to 53 insulation installers who claimed the company had failed to pay them overtime. The DOL found that the company violated the FLSA by paying its employees on a piece-rate basis for all hours worked …