Wages & Hours

Don’t punish absences by taking away more leave than employee used

08/13/2015

You can punish employees who don’t show up as scheduled with a poor performance review or even discharge. But you cannot take away pay, either in the form of wages or by deducting days from the employee’s leave bank. Doing so may violate New York State’s Labor Law.

The curious case of the pay raise that went viral

08/12/2015

When one CEO decided to pay all his employees at least $70,000 per year, accolades rolled in. The raises even came out of the CEO’s own compensation package. So why, then, did there come such terrific backlash?

SEC: Public companies must disclose CEO-to-staff pay ratios

08/12/2015

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Aug. 5 adopted a final rule that requires public companies to disclose the ratio of chief executive officer compensation to the median compensation employees receive.

When workers drive company vehicles, must we pay for travel time?

07/29/2015

Q. My nonexempt employees drive company vans from their homes to customers’ homes throughout the day. Am I required to pay employees for time they spend driving to customers’ homes or sitting in traffic?

Giant stores boosts minimum pay to $9 per hour

07/24/2015

Giant Food Markets raised the minimum wage it pays for any position to $9 per hour in June. The change affected approximately two-thirds of the company’s 33,000 employees at both its Giant and Martin’s locations.

Minimum wage hike imminent

07/22/2015

Minnesota’s minimum wage rises on Aug. 1 for some employers. Large employers, with annual sales of at least $500,000, must pay their employees at least $9.00 per hour. Small employers, with annual sales under $500,000, get to keep the current minimum wage of $7.25.

What’s work for unemployment comp purposes?

07/09/2015

Workers who are collecting unemployment compensation benefits and “perform services” for 32 hours or more per week aren’t eligible to receive benefits for that week. If they work for fewer than 32 hours, they do receive benefits. But what about time spent on-call? Do those hours count toward the threshold? A recent court decision says they don’t.

Keep backup data on employees’ hours worked

07/01/2015

Make sure you back up timecard information. Old-fashioned stamped cards can get lost or damaged. If that happens and an employee alleges she wasn’t paid for all work, the court may take her word—not yours—for how many hours she put in.

Agenda tips DOL’s hand on after-hours technology and pay

06/30/2015

Tucked inside the Obama administration’s Semiannual Regulatory Agenda this spring was a Department of Labor initiative worth watching: A Wage and Hour Division effort to study how employees’ after-hours use of technology might affect wages and overtime pay.

Small amount on the table? Know when to fold ’em

05/21/2015

When a Domino’s Pizza worker sued for wage violations, it quickly became clear that a few thousand dollars was the most he was owed. His attorney wanted to settle, but Domino’s insisted on a three-day trial …