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Wages & Hours

Employees must file discrimination cases within 180 days

07/01/2007

The U.S. Supreme Court handed employers a major victory in a new 5-4 ruling. No longer will you have to worry that an employment decision you made years — even decades — earlier will come back to haunt you …

Gone but not forgetting: Illegals sue for back wages

07/01/2007

Illegal immigrants working for Rosenbaum-Cunningham International (RCI), a janitorial contractor based in Palm Beach, FL, have filed a federal lawsuit seeking back wages for work they did in restaurants in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and other cities …

Sound policy triggers suit anyway

07/01/2007

The Pocono Medical Center in East Stroudsburg was following a special “8 and 80” pay plan permitted for health care providers under Section 7j of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) when it was slapped with an overtime lawsuit anyway …

Use discipline instead of docking pay

07/01/2007

Q. Can I dock an employee’s pay for failing to meet a production quota?

NJ Supreme Court OKs huge off-The-Clock class-Action suit

07/01/2007

In a decision sure to create additional litigation troubles for New Jersey employers, the New Jersey Supreme Court has ruled that Wal-Mart must defend itself against a huge class-action lawsuit involving so-called off-the-clock pay violations …

Some computer jobs exempt from EPA/FLSA protection

07/01/2007

Because of a quirk in the way the Equal Pay Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act have been amended over the years, female workers classified as exempt computer professionals under the FLSA can’t sue their employers for EPA violations …

‘Spiffs’ don’t count when establishing overtime exemption

07/01/2007

If you have an incentive system in which employees who sell a particular item get an additional set payment—commonly called a “spiff”—on top of other payments for selling the item, you can’t count the spiff as part of the commission …

You don’t necessarily have to pay for pre-Work activities

07/01/2007

Employers have struggled to figure out exactly when they must pay employees for pre-work activities ever since the U. S. Supreme Court decided that the Fair Labor Standards Act requires paying workers for the time they spend putting on protective clothing. It’s not enough to say that the time must be of benefit to the employer …

Count only hours actually worked for eligibility

07/01/2007

Do you have special incentive programs to make weekend work attractive to employees? If your program pays workers “credit hours” for time not actually worked, you don’t have to include those hours toward FMLA eligibility …

Align comp & benefits with phased-Retirement options

07/01/2007

The Pension Protection Act of 2006 allows employers to pay pension benefits to employees age 62 and older who are covered under a defined-benefit pension plan even if they continue to work. The change makes phased retirement a viable option for employers who want to keep their mature, experienced workers …