• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

Wages & Hours

Winter turns up heat on pay compliance

12/09/2015
The Fair Labor Standards Act is generally a fairly straightforward law—for most of the year. But winter weather—and the delays and closures that sometimes accompany it—can make wage-and-hour compliance more difficult.

Holiday pay: Must we pay employees extra for working during certain holidays?

12/07/2015
Q. We need some of our employees to work during the holidays. Are we required to pay them extra for those days?

What are the rules on employing tweens?

12/07/2015
Q. We hired a 17-year-old student, and now her 14-year-old brother is seeking employment with us. Are there any additional considerations for employing someone so young?

Is it OK to impose a salary cap?

12/01/2015
Q. Many of our employees have reached the top of the current pay scale. We just instituted a salary cap. The only employees affected are those with many years of service and are well into their 50s and beyond. Some of the affected employees are angry and say this is age discrimination.

Can I make across-the-board pay deductions because one of my employees is stealing?

11/12/2015
Q. I believe at least one of my employees is stealing from the cash register, but I can’t prove which one. I’d like to deduct the register shortfalls from all of the employees. Can I force them to reimburse the company for the register shortfalls?

Partners paid hourly aren’t exempt for the UC system

11/03/2015

Ordinarily, owners of a business aren’t required to participate in the unemployment compensation system and don’t need to pay unemployment tax. Neither are they eligible for unemployment benefits if they lose their jobs. But that doesn’t mean it’s OK to simply create a partnership, have each “partner” contribute a token amount, and then treat them as employees.

Gear could have gone home? No pay to retrieve it

10/21/2015
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has nixed a firefighter’s claim that he should be paid for the time it takes to get to his station and retrieve his firefighting gear before reporting to a different station.

Irregular schedules become worker flashpoint

10/21/2015
The Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division is looking at regulating schedule-setting in general for all employees across all industries.

Am I allowed to institute a tip pool?

10/05/2015
Q. I manage a popular sports bar. May I institute a tip-pooling policy?

Am I allowed to institute a tip pool?

09/21/2015
Q. Bartenders and servers at my bar make hundreds of dollars in tips each night while our hosts, bussers and managers walk away with much less. I instituted a pooling policy to correct the injustice, but now my bartenders and servers are threatening to sue for taking their tips. Are they right?