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Compensation & Benefits

Setting limits on voluntary withholding

04/04/2013
Q. A contractor would like us to voluntarily withhold her federal income taxes. Accounts Payable isn’t equipped to do this, so it’s fallen to Payroll. Having her complete a W-4 form seems inappropriate, since she’s not an employee. Can we honor her request?

Using uniforms, cleansers probably means FLSA applies

04/03/2013
Some employers think they can ignore federal wage-and-hour rules because they are small and don’t hit the $500,000 annual sales volume required to be covered by the FLSA. That rarely works because merely engaging in interstate commerce by using uniforms and cleaning supplies may be enough.

Records trump ‘knowledge’ of co-workers’ hours

04/03/2013
Here’s some good news: If you have complete and accurate time records, an employee’s claims that he just “knows” what hours others work isn’t going to be enough to keep a lawsuit moving.

Audit bonus payments to discover any gender discrimination

04/03/2013
There’s a quick and easy way to determine whether your bonus payment program might be tainted by hidden sex discrimination in violation of either the federal Equal Pay Act or the New York Human Rights Law.

Feds seek more than $1 million from San Antonio restaurants

04/03/2013
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division is seeking a fortune in fortune cookies from three San Antonio-area China Sea Restaurants after an investigation revealed massive minimum wage, overtime and recordkeeping violations.

Frisco car wash cleans up act, pays employees back

04/03/2013
Genter’s Detailing in Frisco, Texas, has agreed to pay $22,345 to its employees follow­ing a DOL Wage and Hour Division investigation. The in­­vestigation revealed that the car wash and auto detailer regularly reduced the wages of 53 current and former employees by $200 to $400 for costs allegedly associated with damage to vehicles under their care.

New restaurant owner finds predecessor cooked the books

04/03/2013

Three lessons from a pending lawsuit in Dallas: 1. If your employees work overtime, pay them for it. 2. Don’t falsify records to cover your tracks. 3. Don’t sell your business to some­­one who is suing you for stiffing them out of overtime.

Keep careful pay records, or else courts will take employees’ word for it

04/03/2013
Here’s another powerful reason to maintain meticulous wage-and-hour pay records. If you don’t—and a worker claims you owe him money for unpaid work—the court will rely on the employee’s recollection or records.

Dallas company’s temp shell game doesn’t fool DOL

04/03/2013
Dallas-based Nieman Printing thought it had it all figured out when it hired two temp agencies to employ the same workers doing the same work, but on different days. The strategy: Keep workers from ever putting in more than 40 hours per week for one employer. Desired result: No overtime pay! DOL investigators saw through the charade.

Don’t get stung by Obamacare’s play-or-pay provisions

04/03/2013
The IRS has released regulations for determining the hefty penalties that apply when Affordable Care Act-covered employers fail to offer health insurance to employees starting in 2014. The rules seem daunting, but it’s critical to understand them.