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Wages & Hours

Must we pay out unused vacation days when we fire employees or they quit?

06/01/2009

Q. Is an employer required to pay workers for their unused vacation days when they resign or are terminated?

Lessons from the Courts: June 2009

05/27/2009

You don’t have to tolerate foul language … Customer gripe caused firing? Get it in writing … Ledbetter Act already spurring more pay cases … Track when you notify worker of firing … No signature? Settlement may still be binding.

Payroll pain: Can we ask staff to work for no pay?

05/27/2009

Q. We are having trouble making payroll and have asked our employees to give up pay for 20 hours per month while they work their regular schedules. Can we do this? Or should we just cut their salaries or hourly wages to make up the difference?

When must we pay for travel time?

05/27/2009

Q. Some of our employees travel out of the country on business. We provide a per diem amount for meals, etc. Is there any requirement regarding when we must start the per diem clock ticking? For example, if someone leaves on a trip Friday afternoon and returns Monday morning, do we have to pay for four full days?

Look for hiring trends that could signal bias—you might just avoid a huge jury award

05/27/2009

Most applicants who aren’t hired just go away. But sometimes they don’t—and then it’s time to watch out! A rejected applicant can play the discrimination card, possibly costing you an expensive jury award. That’s one good reason to check your hiring practices for hidden bias.

Evaluate work before switching to full time

05/27/2009

Some part-timers naturally want to move up to a full-time position. But when they apply and aren’t selected, they may claim they were turned down because of some form of discrimination—even if the real reason was that they weren’t performing well in their part-time roles.

Remember, you have to prove exempt status

05/27/2009

Too many employers assume they can just classify employees as FLSA exempt without being challenged. The truth is quite different. In fact, many overtime labor law cases are filed when an employer fires an employee for entirely legitimate reasons.

Are we allowed to cut full-time employees’ hours to meet budget requirements?

05/27/2009

Q. Can we legally reduce the hours of full-time employees in one of our divisions because it needs to cut overhead?

Suing over tip pools may end in California Supreme Court

05/15/2009

Employees who believe their employers may be forcing them to participate in a tip pool and may be diverting part of the tips to owners or managers who aren’t entitled to them may or may not have a right to sue on their own behalf.

Judge approves $8 million settlement in UPS case

05/15/2009

A federal judge recently approved an $8 million settlement between UPS and approximately 38,000 current and former California employees. The workers alleged the company failed to provide meal and rest breaks and did not pay terminated employees their wages on a timely basis.