• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

Wages & Hours

Cover employee expenses–or prepare for court

02/26/2014

Now is a good time to make sure your employees are being properly reimbursed for expenses they incur while performing their jobs. The problem: If they aren’t reimbursed for those expenses, their pay may fall below minimum wage. And if that’s the case, they can quit and sue, alleging constructive discharge.

3% raises to remain the norm in 2014

02/25/2014
Base pay increases for 2014 will remain at 3% for the second year in a row—roughly one percentage point below pre-recession levels, according to Buck Consultants’ seventh annual Compensation Planning Survey.

N.Y. wage-and-hour news you can use: annual notices & tax credits

02/18/2014
Now that 2014 is in full swing, it’s time to make sure your organization is up to speed on new wage-and-hour obligations and prepare to take advantage of a new tax incentive for hiring student workers.

WHD rolls two sushi restaurants for OT violations

02/18/2014
Two Nassau County sushi restaurants will pay $261,887 in back wages and liquidated damages to 70 workers following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division.

Obama: Higher minimum for fed contractors’ employees

02/18/2014
President Obama plans to issue an executive order requiring federal contractors to pay employees at least $10.10 per hour, starting in 2015.

When is it OK to punish by docking pay?

02/13/2014
Q. May I dock an employee’s pay as a penalty for disciplinary infractions?

Is there any hidden obligation to give raises?

02/11/2014
Q. Does any law require a company to give employees a raise at the end of the year or other amount of time?

Employers dropping internships to avoid liability

02/10/2014
Fallout from the landmark “Black Swan” court ruling in 2012 is being felt in workplaces across the country. More employers are dropping their internship programs after a federal court said Fox Searchlight must pay its unpaid interns at least minimum wage.

Obama to order higher minimum wage for fed contractor employees

02/05/2014
President Obama plans to issue an executive order requiring federal contractors to pay employees at least $10.10 per hour, starting in 2015. The announcement came during Obama’s State of the Union address.

Is time that an employee spends on-call compensable?

01/28/2014
Q: An employee carries a company-issued smartphone so he can respond to emergencies over the weekend. He can usually resolve an issue with a phone call. How should we pay him—for the time he’s responding to an emergency or for all the time he has the phone?