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FLSA

Must we pay for short smoking breaks?

12/18/2008

Q. Would a brief clock-out (initiated by the employee) of less than 20 minutes, such as an impromptu smoking break or personal phone call break, need to be paid as work time? The company accepts such impromptu clock-out breaks without prior supervisor approval.

Can we deduct personal leave for exempt worker’s partial-day absence?

12/18/2008

Q. Some of our supervisors make their exempt employees take personal or sick leave for every minute they miss from work, even if they work a regular schedule the rest of the week. Can we safely do that?

Go ahead and settle overtime cases, but know what you’re buying when you do

12/09/2008

If an employee thinks he isn’t being properly paid for overtime, expect a lawsuit. You may be able to settle such a case—at a price. It will likely be expensive, covering attorneys’ fees as well as the lost wages. Plus, the court will carefully scrutinize the settlement to make sure it’s fair.

DOL gets free pass when suing employers for wage violations

12/09/2008

Employers, beware: The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has just made it much easier for the DOL to file lawsuits against employers. All the DOL needs to do is file a complaint alleging unpaid wages.

Florida staffing company owes NY workers $113,000

12/09/2008

Star One Staffing, based in Coral Gables, has agreed to pay $113,000 in back wages and damages to 70 Filipino workers to settle charges brought by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.

Don’t let fines, tool costs undercut base wage

12/05/2008

Watch out if you ever fine employees, force them to pay others to perform work they can’t finish or make them provide their own equipment. Those expenses may cause them to earn less than the minimum wage.

If you don’t track hours, overtime lawsuit may become nightmare

12/05/2008

Many employers make mistakes when it comes to classifying employees—either exempt (salaried) or nonexempt (hourly) from the federal overtime rules. Those mistakes can lead to expensive class-action lawsuits. And if employers failed to track hours worked, it makes it all the more difficult to settle the case.

Justin Timberlake is sued for wage-and-hour violations

12/05/2008

A busboy who worked in singer and actor Justin Timberlake’s Manhattan restaurant, Southern Comfort, is suing the star seeking unpaid wages and tips.

Calif. OT law may apply to out-of-state workers

11/25/2008

Do you have employees who live and work in another state, but whose jobs sometimes bring them to California? Then you may be making a big overtime mistake if you pay them as if they were working in their home states.

Must we pay for hours lost due to power failure?

11/21/2008

Q. We recently had a power outage and called employees who weren’t in yet to tell them to come in when the power was back up. We then gave these people a chance to make up the lost time by working late or using paid time off. Do we have to pay them for the hours they missed?