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Wages & Hours

Opinion letter: OK to cut hours, pay of exempt employees

09/21/2009

A California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement opinion letter has given the green light to an increasingly common employment practice in today’s fragile economy: Cutting exempt employees’ normal workweeks and then paying them proportionately less.

Rebound? Compensation up, but health costs remain high

09/18/2009

A new Watson Wyatt survey says 44% of employers plan to reverse pay cuts made during the recession. That’s up from 30% in June. Also, about one-third of employers plan to unfreeze salaries, up from 17%.

FLSA lawsuit cocktail: Hourly staff mixing work, lunch

09/18/2009

When is your most diligent worker also your biggest lawsuit risk? Answer: When that nonexempt employee works through his or her lunch break or during other off-the-clock hours—a fact nobody realizes (or turns a blind eye to) until he or she sues for unpaid overtime.

Can person be employee and independent contractor?

09/18/2009

Q. One of our full-time hourly employees has started a cleaning business on the side. We pay her a set amount for cleaning the offices on the weekend. Since this is an entirely different position, can we pay her as a 1099 independent contractor for the cleaning work if she’s also a full-time employee?

How to avoid the salary negotiation trap

09/15/2009

It sometimes takes extra money to entice an applicant to jump ship. That’s all part of the hiring dance. But there’s a hidden peril that could land you in court—and cost you thousands. Learn the best practices that will help you defend yourself.

Track rationale for all salary increases

09/14/2009

Employees who discover their colleagues are making more money for doing the same work often conclude that there can be only one reason—discrimination. Next stop: the office of an attorney, who will try to confirm the pay bias by comparing the disgruntled employee’s protected class status to those earning more.

Hourly employees and off-site e-mail access: What are the wage-and-hour rules?

09/14/2009

Q. Several of our hourly employees have requested access to their office e-mail from their iPhones, BlackBerrys and other similar devices. We are inclined to allow this access, but want the employees who receive access to sign express waivers to the effect that they will not be “on-the-clock” while doing so. Can we legally require such a waiver?

Personal liability for wage claims

09/14/2009

Q. The attorney for one of my former employees sent a letter demanding payment for overtime compensation. The letter threatened to sue me personally, along with my corporation. I understood that only the employer—the company—and not the CEO or owners of the corporation could be sued under employment discrimination laws. Can I be sued personally for wage-and-hour claims?

Tread carefully when factoring employee travel expenses into pay calculations

09/10/2009

Here’s a wage-and-hour problem that may trip up Minnesota employers: Employees who have to pay their own travel expenses may end up making less than minimum wage. Allowing this to happen when the expenses exceed $50 may also violate Minnesota’s prohibition on deducting more than that amount for employee expenses.

Reduced hours for exempt employees: Should they continue to fill out time sheets?

09/10/2009

Q. As a cost-saving measure, our company reduced the salaries of exempt employees by 10%. Employees get their salaries regardless of the number of hours they work. We have always asked our employees, though, to fill out a time sheet on which they write down 40 hours every week. Now we will ask them to record just 36 hours on this time sheet. Any problems with this?