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FLSA

Novartis settles class-action sex bias suit–for $175 million

09/01/2010

Novartis Pharmaceuticals has agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit filed by female sales reps just two months after a federal jury awarded the plaintiffs $250 million in punitive damages. Novartis challenged that verdict, and the court had scheduled a hearing for November. Under the settlement, Novartis will pay $152.5 million in return for dropping its appeal.

Can employees also be independent contractors at the same company?

08/31/2010
Q. “Are there any legal issues with having some of our full-time permanent employees also having contracts to do subcontractor work (1099) for the same place they are employed?” — S.M., Wisconsin

Is pay required for after-hours work functions?

08/27/2010
Q. Can we require full-time nonexempt employees to attend work-related functions after regular hours? If so, should this time be compensated?

Can I be personally liable for misclassification?

08/24/2010
Q. Let’s say I do the payroll for a company and know that we are misclassifying employees (exempt vs. nonexempt; independent contractors vs. employees). And let’s say I advised the owner, but he chose to leave it as is. Could I be held liable as the payroll administrator?

What are the new regulations on paying for time employees spend changing clothes?

08/18/2010
Q. How has the recent DOL interpretation letter addressed an employer’s obligation to pay employees for time spent changing clothes?

Military leave starts Tuesday: Pay for full week?

08/18/2010
Q. One of our exempt employees is in the Reserve. He is going on a two-week training session that starts on a Tuesday. That means he will work on Monday, the start of our week. Do we have to pay him for the whole week when he is only going to be here Monday?

DOL issues new pro-employee rules on pay for changing clothes

08/17/2010
The U.S. Department of Labor has overturned years of past guidance with new rules on when employers must pay workers for the time they spend “donning and doffing” certain work clothes. Guess what: It’s not good news for employers. Read the new DOL interpretation letter here.

Unpaid interns teach some employers a costly lesson

08/12/2010

For employers and job-seekers alike, unpaid internships seem like an attractive option. But internships come with risks. Before you begin taking on interns, do a thoughtful and careful analysis to make sure state and federal law allows you to classify an individual as an unpaid intern rather than a paid employee.

Federal judge removes lawyers in Target overtime suit

08/12/2010
Halunen & Associates will not represent any of the plaintiffs in Gifford v. Target Corp., a major class-action overtime suit, after a federal judge ruled that the firm’s previous contact with a Target official may have revealed privileged company information.

To cut your risk of FLSA overtime suits, let employees put on uniforms at home

08/12/2010
Here’s a simple risk-reduction measure for employers that require employees to wear uniforms on the job. You can reduce your chances of being on the losing end of a wage-and-hour lawsuit by giving employees the option to suit up at home.