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Compensation & Benefits

GAO pokes a stick at Wage & Hour auditors, waking them up for more aggressive OT probes

08/21/2008

A recent GAO report sharply criticized the Bush administration for mishandling overtime, back-pay and final-paycheck complaints filed by U.S. employees. The report said U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage & Hour Division auditors often failed to thoroughly investigate claims …

DOL: Employees must be paid for time worked, even if they violate mandatory meal-Break policy

08/21/2008
Work time is paid time. Period. You still must pay employees even if they work through a company-mandated meal break without a supervisor’s approval, according to a new U.S. Department of Labor opinion letter released July 29 …

The HR I.Q. Test: September ’08

08/21/2008
Test your knowledge of recent trends in employment law, comp & benefits and other HR issues with our monthly mini-quiz …

5 Steps for Communicating Benefits Changes

08/19/2008

As your organization shifts more responsibility to employees to manage their own health and retirement expenses, you risk alienating your work force. But it doesn’t have to be that way …

Firing OK if FMLA return date isn’t honored

08/19/2008
When an employee goes out on FMLA leave, set a return date and stick to it. If she doesn’t show up back to work and doesn’t ask for an extension or a reasonable accommodation under the ADA, you are free to terminate her, effective at the end of the leave …

Can we withhold pay from workers who clock in early?

08/19/2008

Q. Some of our nonexempt employees occasionally begin work before their established starting times. We’ve always paid them for this time, but I’ve recently read that Georgia employers don’t have to pay an employee for such time if the early start was not approved in advance. Is this true? …

Home Depot stock case enters another round

08/19/2008
You can’t please everyone, so the saying goes, but the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta came close in its ruling on a class-action suit by Home Depot employees under ERISA. The lawsuit alleges that former CEO Robert Nardelli and other directors, including co-founder Ken Langone, mismanaged the employees’ defined contribution plan  …

Document all efforts to accommodate disabled workers

08/15/2008
Employees who claim they suffered emotional distress because of illegal disability discrimination under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act don’t have to rely solely on the workers’ compensation system to adjudicate their claims. They can go to court instead, suing for negligent infliction of emotional distress under state common law …

Denying FMLA leave could make you liable for lost wages

08/15/2008
If an employer denies legitimate FMLA leave and that denial, in turn, causes an employee to miss work because he becomes depressed or stressed, the employer may have to pay lost wages for those missed days. That’s what the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in a unique case that could have far-reaching effects …

The ‘multiplier effect’: How small wage-and-hour violations cost big

08/15/2008

For California employers, even minor wage-and-hour violations can wind up costing employers millions of dollars. Blame it on California’s infamous “multiplier effect,” which can come into play in any wage-and-hour case, but which really adds up in class-action suits …