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Wages & Hours

Study: Female directors not paid equally at western Pa. nonprofits

03/01/2007

Men who lead nonprofits in western Pennsylvania earn about $42,000 more on average than women who do so, according to a recent study by the Robert Morris University’s Bayer Center for Nonprofit Management …

Failing to pay overtime? You could face a double whammy under federal and state law

03/01/2007

New York employers should be aware of a potential double hit if they fail to pay employees the correct amount of overtime pay: The Fair Labor Standards Act entitles employees to double the amount of overtime pay they’re due, and the New York State Labor Law tacks on an additional 25 percent bonus …

FLSA: Child Labor Rules

02/25/2007

HR Law 101: The child labor provisions in the Fair Labor Standards Act restrict the amount of time and conditions under which minors age 17 and younger are permitted to work …

FLSA: Exempt vs. Nonexempt Workers

02/24/2007

HR Law 101: When a new hire comes on board, you must determine whether to classify him or her as exempt or nonexempt under the FLSA. The key consideration: Exempt workers aren’t eligible for overtime pay. Rather, they’re paid for the job they do, not the hours they keep …

FLSA: Classifying Exempt Workers

02/23/2007

HR Law 101: To be considered exempt from overtime, an employee must generally be paid on a salary basis and his or her job duties must meet the Labor Department’s standards for one of the six exemption categories. Use this self-audit to test whether you’re properly classifying your workers as exempt under the FLSA …

Retail bosses needn’t be present to win executive exemption

02/01/2007

In an important opinion letter issued recently, the U.S. Labor Department said store managers can retain their executive-exemption status (i.e., ineligible for overtime pay) even if they don’t physically supervise employees under their control on a regular basis …

‘Balanced hours’ program helps recruit, retain lawyers

02/01/2007

Law firms often eschew scheduling flexibility because their income is based on billable hours. But the loss of a few hours isn’t as expensive as recruiting new lawyers. That’s why law firm Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham introduced its Balanced Hours program, allowing its busy lawyers to telework and flex their schedules …

Smoking-Cessation benefits expand productivity

02/01/2007

How much does having a smoker on staff add to your costs? On average, smoking breaks and higher health costs related to smoking cost employers the equivalent of nine weeks’ lost productivity per year …

Deducting leave for partial-day absences

02/01/2007

Q. Recently, we audited our jobs and determined that some employees were classified as hourly when they should be exempt. We reclassified them. But now, I have a question about handling time off for our newly exempt employees. By law, are we required to NOT charge an exempt person’s time if they’re out of the office for a half day? And if we do start charging an exempt person’s time (vacation or personal) if they miss an hour or two, are we setting ourselves up to be sued?

Can we require salaried staff to make up lost time?

02/01/2007

Q. We’re a small company (fewer than 20 employees) and don’t keep time sheets. Our entire staff is salaried. We expect employees to make up personal time and sick time (neither of which affects their vacation time or holiday time). Are we wrong to expect that if a salaried employee takes two hours for a doctor’s appointment, he or she should make up that time later? —M.V., Florida