Wages & Hours

Federal contractors to ring in New Year with two new rules

12/14/2015

Federal contractors face two January compliance mandates affecting employee pay.

Draw on commission could threaten contractor status

12/09/2015

Do you consider your commissioned salespeople independent contractors? If you pay them a draw, they may be employees for unemployment compensation purposes.

Winter turns up heat on pay compliance

12/09/2015

The Fair Labor Standards Act is generally a fairly straightforward law—for most of the year. But winter weather—and the delays and closures that sometimes accompany it—can make wage-and-hour compliance more difficult.

Holiday pay: Must we pay employees extra for working during certain holidays?

12/07/2015

Q. We need some of our employees to work during the holidays. Are we required to pay them extra for those days?

What are the rules on employing tweens?

12/07/2015

Q. We hired a 17-year-old student, and now her 14-year-old brother is seeking employment with us. Are there any additional considerations for employing someone so young?

Is it OK to impose a salary cap?

12/01/2015

Q. Many of our employees have reached the top of the current pay scale. We just instituted a salary cap. The only employees affected are those with many years of service and are well into their 50s and beyond. Some of the affected employees are angry and say this is age discrimination.

Can I make across-the-board pay deductions because one of my employees is stealing?

11/12/2015

Q. I believe at least one of my employees is stealing from the cash register, but I can’t prove which one. I’d like to deduct the register shortfalls from all of the employees. Can I force them to reimburse the company for the register shortfalls?

Partners paid hourly aren’t exempt for the UC system

11/03/2015

Ordinarily, owners of a business aren’t required to participate in the unemployment compensation system and don’t need to pay unemployment tax. Neither are they eligible for unemployment benefits if they lose their jobs. But that doesn’t mean it’s OK to simply create a partnership, have each “partner” contribute a token amount, and then treat them as employees.

Gear could have gone home? No pay to retrieve it

10/21/2015

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has nixed a firefighter’s claim that he should be paid for the time it takes to get to his station and retrieve his firefighting gear before reporting to a different station.

Irregular schedules become worker flashpoint