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Wages & Hours

Setting overtime with Pa. agency covers fed claim too

06/01/2007

Good news for employers: If an employee files an overtime claim with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry and the department settles the case and collects wages for the employee, the employee can’t turn around and also sue under the FLSA …

Paying employees on commission? Clarify terms up front to defend against WPCL claims

06/01/2007

The Pennsylvania Wage Payment and Collection Law (WPCL) allows employees to sue their employers for unpaid wages, including commissions and the like. Because the WPCL allows any wage contract claim, including oral agreements, it’s important for employers to clarify the terms up front and preferably in writing …

Pa. working women earn petite paychecks

06/01/2007

Women in Pennsylvania earn 73 cents for every dollar earned by men in similar positions, compared to the national average of 77 cents on the dollar …

Same job, new management: Are employees covered by the FMLA?

06/01/2007

Q. What is the policy on FMLA for workers who are employed by a county facility that puts their contracts out for bids? Let’s say the workers are employed by the first successful bidder for, say, three years and then the contract is re-bid. Another company wins the bid, takes over the job and keeps the same employees. Do their hours worked carry over even though it is a different employer? I could not find a reference to this problem in the FMLA guidelines.

Pay for training time

06/01/2007

Q. If our organization offers voluntary training to our employees and the training takes place during their lunch hour, do we have to pay the employees for the time spent attending the training? 

Goodyear pays $227,792 in back wages to Texas workers

06/01/2007

The U.S. Labor Department (DOL) recently announced that Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., following a 2006 judgment, has paid 211 employees $227,792 in back wages. The wage awards went to current and former technicians at its Houston and Bayport chemical plants …

Big ruling: Supreme Court limits scope of pay-discrimination lawsuits

05/29/2007

The U.S. Supreme Court handed employers a major victory this week by clarifying that workers who claim pay discrimination must file their complaints within 180 days of the alleged offense. But this ruling could, in the short run, lead to a spike in pay-bias claims.

Federal minimum wage jumps to $5.85 per hour on July 24

05/25/2007
Congress voted to increase the federal minimum wage from the current $5.15 per hour to $7.25 per hour in a three-step process. The federal minimum will jump 70-cents per hour in July 2007, July 2008 and July 2009.

Get Well-Versed in Overtime or Face Bad-Faith Damages

05/01/2007

Ignorance of the law is no excuse when it comes to deciding who’s exempt from overtime and who gets paid hourly …

Exempt or not? Track employees’ hours either way

05/01/2007

Figuring out who should be classified as exempt or hourly is undoubtedly one of the hardest parts of an HR professional’s job. Get it wrong, and your organization may owe thousands in back pay and penalties …