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Wages & Hours

Calculating OT: What counts as a ‘workweek’?

09/01/2014
Employment lawsuits often hinge on a definition: What is an “employee”? What is “work”? And, in this case, what is a “workweek”?

If fired employee was truly awful, do I still have to give him final wages?

08/29/2014
Q. I just fired one of my employees for his constant tardiness. Because it is currently in the middle of a pay period, the employee has some wages due to him. When must I pay him these wages, and am I even required to pay him? I mean, I did fire him for being a terrible employee.

Court OKs PTO for exempt employees’ partial-day absences

08/29/2014
Employers often confuse the strict rules limiting the docking of exempt employees’ salary with different rules relating to partial-day deductions under vacation or paid time off policies.

Former Pink Poodle pole dancers seek back pay

08/29/2014
Eleven former exotic dancers at San Jose’s Pink Poodle strip club are suing, claiming they were misclassified as independent contractors and thus failed to receive minimum wages and overtime pay. Additionally, they claim the misclassification deprived them of health insurance.

In California, raise arbitration issue before administrative hearing on unpaid wages

08/29/2014
If you use an arbitration clause in your application or require employees to arbitrate claims, try to get the case moved to arbitration as soon as possible after the employee files a wage claim with the Cali­­for­­nia Department of Indus­­trial Rela­­tions.

How much do those ‘fat cat’ CEOs really make?

08/29/2014
Looking at a broad swath of U.S. corporations—not just large, publicly traded ones—it turns out that only a handful of CEOs crack the $1 million mark in annual cash compensation.

Must we pay employees for unauthorized overtime when they check their messages?

08/18/2014
Q. We frequently have employees turn in time sheets with unapproved overtime—time they spend checking emails and voice mails. Do we have to pay em­­­­ployees for this time even though we have a workplace policy that prohibits unapproved overtime work?

Beware even tiny pay gaps between men and women

08/14/2014
Even a small gender-based pay differential may be­­come the foundation of a class-action lawsuit.

If worker loses equipment, can we make him pay?

08/06/2014
Q. A departing employee has failed to return certain company equipment. Can we deduct the value of this equipment from her final expense reimbursement check?

Are we liable for male-female pay disparities?

07/31/2014
Q. The company that I own has been in business since 1930. We recently performed an assessment of positions and salaries and discovered that our male executives are paid higher salaries than female counterparts. Are we liable for any unfair business practices?