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Wages & Hours

Be sure you can justify reason why promoted worker didn’t get raise

02/09/2015

Most employees who are promoted see that as a vote of confidence and assume their new responsibilities will include more money or other tangible benefits. But what if you don’t want to raise pay?

Is it time to prepare to pay higher wages?

02/05/2015
American businesses are benefiting from lower energy costs and rising sales, a fact not lost on unions and employees. Signs that employees expect a bigger piece of the pie abound everywhere, from your local McDonald’s restaurant (the symbolic focus of efforts to raise the minimum wage) to the airline industry.

Can we discipline an ‘early clocker?’

02/02/2015
Q. One of our part-time employees has been warned repeatedly about clocking in earlier than she’s supposed to, sometimes more than an hour early. We know that we have to pay her for any hours worked, but what can we legally do to get her to work only the hours set for her position? Also, can we reprimand a co-worker that has been clocking in for her?

Harrisburg, Pa. exotic dancers win class-action status

02/02/2015
A federal judge has granted exotic dancers at a Harrisburg-area adult entertainment club class-action status in their wage-and-hour lawsuit against their employer.

Converting employees into contractors? Prepare for expensive, protracted litigation

02/02/2015
Here’s a warning for employers thinking about turning employees into independent contractors to avoid paying benefits and payroll taxes: If some of the employees challenge the decision, you may be in for years of expensive, time-consuming litigation. That can easily turn a penny-pinching strategy into a money pit.

New California penalties for minimum-wage violations

01/26/2015
Among the flurry of new California labor laws passed in 2014 is an amendment to the labor code that allows the state Labor Commissioner to issue a civil penalty for failure to pay less than the minimum wage.

Court: Exotic dancer can argue she’s an employee

01/26/2015
An employee doesn’t become an independent contractor just by signing an agreement that says so. Courts use several tests to make that determination.

Pay for required desk time–even if no work is happening

01/26/2015
Employers must pay for the time em­­ployees spend sitting at their desks if they aren’t allowed to leave—even if they aren’t doing any work.

Must we pay for time spend in security line?

01/21/2015
Q. To prevent theft, we require our employees to pass through security screenings after they finish their shifts. Because we have a large number of employees, it can take up to 25 minutes for employees to get through the screening line. Do we have to pay our employees for the time they spend in line and going through the security screenings?

He who has the best time records usually wins a wage-and-hour lawsuit

01/15/2015

The FLSA and DOL regulations require employers to track all hours worked so employees can be paid for all the time they spend working. That’s especially true for hourly employees. But what about tracking hours for so-called exempt employees who aren’t eligible for overtime pay for hours worked over 40 per week?