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Pennsylvania

Must after-hours meetings be paid?

12/18/2012

Q. I own a small restaurant. Do I need to pay employees for staff meetings held in the evenings, which are not during my employees’ regular hours of work?

Can we offer exempts extra vacation bonuses?

12/18/2012

Q. Can we give an exempt employee a bonus of extra vacation days in addition to the standard accrued time off outlined in our employee handbook?

What are our obligations to smell-sensitive employee and her co-workers?

12/18/2012
Q. Our office of about 30 people has been “asked” to stop using perfume and any other type of product that contains a fragrance because one employee claims those smells “bother” her. Everyone else feels this unfairly restricts the freedoms of the majority. Is there any legal backing to either side of this debate?

Is job-hunting a firing offense?

12/18/2012

Q. It has come to my attention that one of our managers has posted his résumé on an online job board. Is it legal to ask him if he is actively looking for another job? If he is, do we have grounds to terminate him?

Are there any downsides to paying a holiday premium to exempt employees?

12/18/2012
Q. Our policy says employees who work on holidays are paid time-and-a-half. If an exempt employee works on a holiday, can I pay him time-and-a-half?

What Obama administration’s second term means for employers

12/18/2012
With President Obama taking the oath of office this month, employers are wondering what his second term will mean for them. Here is a sampling of the issues.

5 Pa. firms ace awards for gay-friendly practices

12/18/2012
Each year, the Human Rights Campaign rates Fortune 500 companies on how well they treat lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees. Five Pennsylvania firms couldn’t have scored any better, earning perfect 100s from the gay-rights advocacy organization.

Settlement soon? EEOC rules Wet Seal discriminated

12/18/2012
Clothing retailer Wet Seal appears headed for a settlement after the EEOC ruled against it in a race discrimination complaint that alleged a high-level effort to trim the number of black employees working at the teen fashion retailers’ stores.

Pittsburgh café to serve up back pay to employees

12/18/2012
The Point Brugge Café, in Pitts­­burgh’s East End, must pay $37,719 to 39 workers that the U.S. Depart­­ment of Labor says were stiffed by an illegal tip-pooling system.

Was that race discrimination, or just a personality conflict?

12/18/2012
As an HR professional, you’re probably used to mediating what seem like silly disputes between co-workers. If neither employee mentions race, chances are a simple personality conflict is at the heart of the matter. Leave it at that—with a note for the record.