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Wages & Hours

Even lost opportunity for overtime may be considered illegal retaliation

01/01/2007

After last year’s blockbuster U.S. Supreme Court decision that made it easier for employees to sue for workplace retaliation (Burlington Northern v. White), courts have been trying to figure out how to apply that ruling in real-life situations …

Houston janitors OK contract that expands wages, insurance

01/01/2007

Members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 5 recently voted in favor of a three-year collective-bargaining agreement that provides janitors in the Houston area with health benefits and a pay increase …

New Ruling May Help Limit Class-Action Cases in PA

01/01/2007

Attorneys looking to create extra trouble for employers have lost an important class-action ruling in Pennsylvania. Lawyers no longer will be able to file federal lawsuits and state lawsuits together in federal court …

Pennsylvania wage & hour law: Understand the new rules for 2007

01/01/2007

New wage and hour laws came in with the new year for Pennsylvania employers. Hidden in the new minimum-wage law fine print is a new set of rules governing everything from meal breaks to comp time …

Restaurant in Wayne accused of labor and wage violations

01/01/2007

Three former employees at a Chinese restaurant in Wayne filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) alleging unfair labor practices …

New Class-Action Suits Show Need to Track Hours Closely

01/01/2007

In light of a slew of recent wage-and-hour lawsuits against big companies like Wal-Mart and UPS, now’s a good time to review how you track the hours worked by employees. Reason: Following the Wal-Mart lawsuit lead, clever lawyers now seek out one or two unhappy employees who want to start a class-action case under the Fair Labor Standards Act …

Don’t Forget to Comply With New Minimum-Wage Poster Law

01/01/2007

Effective Jan. 1, 2007, the new minimum wage in Florida is $6.67 per hour. This represents a 27-cent increase from the $6.40 per-hour minimum in 2006 …

North Carolina Retaliatory Employment Discrimination Act

01/01/2007

The Retaliatory Employment Discrimination Act (REDA) is North Carolina’s super anti-discrimination law combining elements of several federal laws, including Title VII, the Fair Labor Standards Act, OSHA and USERRA. The Employment Discrimination Bureau in the state Department of Labor (www.nclabor.com/edb/edb.htm) enforces REDA …

Use new govt. data to benchmark benefit percentages

12/01/2006

The U.S. government’s main survey on employee wages and benefits, Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC), offers a good quarterly snapshot that can help you benchmark your own pay and perks …

‘Parent Shift’ Program Allows Nurses to Work Two-Hour Shifts

12/01/2006

To help working parents manage their lives, the Cleveland Clinic allows nurses to work shifts of as little as two hours a day. Chief nursing officer Claire Young created the "Parent Shift" program because rigid shift schedules were preventing working mothers from returning to work after having children …