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Wages & Hours

Sick employee wants less overtime? Consider that a request for intermittent FMLA leave

07/17/2013
Don’t try to “create” artificial overtime for a disabled em­­ployee so she’ll be forced to use up her FMLA entitlement. That’s especially true if no one else is required to actually work overtime. Such a tactic will backfire.

Court: If interns perform any work, pay them

07/17/2013
If your organization uses interns—or plans to do so—take note of last month’s ruling in the closely watched “Black Swan” case. A federal court said Fox Searchlight Pictures violated wage-and-hour laws by failing to pay interns who did menial tasks during production of the Oscar-nominated movie.

To pay or not to pay: Interns aren’t just a source of free labor

07/09/2013
It’s summertime, and college interns are filling corporate America’s cubicles. How many of those fresh-faced kids are wage-and-hour lawsuits just waiting to happen?

Starbucks shift bosses tipped, assistant managers stiffed

07/09/2013
The New York Court of Appeal—the state’s highest court—has ruled that Starbucks baristas in New York must share tips with their shift supervisors. Assistant managers, however, are out of luck. The court said they don’t get a cut of the nickels, dimes and quarters left in the jars on the Starbucks counters.

Mere guessing at compensation disparity won’t help employee win EPA lawsuit

07/09/2013
Here’s some good news. A court has quickly dismissed a pay disparity lawsuit that a university mathematics professor filed accusing her university of paying male faculty more than their female colleagues.

What should we do? Our summer intern is suddenly demanding back pay?

07/05/2013
Q. We hired an intern for the summer. She was eager to work for free to add it to her résumé … We told her that after this week we won’t need her. That’s when she said we owe her minimum wage or she’ll complain to the Department of Labor. Do we really have to pay her?

How to reduce wage-and-hour lawsuit risks (and defend yourself if sued)

07/05/2013
During a recent 12-month period, more than 7,750 wage-and-hour lawsuits were filed in federal courts, an increase of almost 10% over the preceding 12 months. Pennsylvania once again ranked among the top 10 states for such new lawsuits. The good news: There are ways for employers to reduce the risk of wage-and-hour suits, and strengthen their defenses if one is filed.

Directory assistance giant settles wage suit for $1.3M

07/05/2013
Kgb USA will pay $1.3 million to 14,568 workers across the country it misclassified as independent contractors. The company paid the ­workers piece rate for each text message they responded to, regardless of how many hours they worked.

5 arrested in Philadelphia protest over ‘wage thefts’

07/05/2013
Five Philadelphia University security guards sat down in traffic to protest what they call wage theft by their employer, McGinn Security. The guards claim McGinn has failed to pay proper over­­time and illegally requires officers to commute to company offices on their own time to complete citations.

Prepare to pay top dollar for top tech talent

07/04/2013
Technology salaries jumped by 5% last year, more than they have in a decade, according to a compensation survey by Dice, a career site for technology and engineering professionals.