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FLSA

Speaking of cutting to the bone …

09/15/2008
The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia in Athens has granted preliminary class certification to a group of quail processors at Quail International in Greensboro who claim the company forces processors to work off the clock and through breaks in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act …

WMI hit with overtime suit contesting break practices

09/09/2008
A group of current and former drivers and ride-along helpers for Waste Management Inc. (WMI) has filed a lawsuit claiming the company routinely required them to work through breaks without pay to finish their routes on time …

Mortenson Co. sued under FLSA

09/09/2008
David Keef, a former field engineer for M.A. Mortenson Company, a commercial construction firm based in Minneapolis, has filed a lawsuit claiming the company misclassified his position as exempt from overtime …

Under what circumstances must we pay interns?

09/09/2008

Q. My company would like to hire several college students as interns to work on special projects. Because the work has educational value, we are wondering if the internships can be unpaid. Can we do this? …

Does docking pay affect FLSA status?

09/05/2008
Q. I recently docked one of my salaried employees’ pay for damage he caused to his company vehicle. My HR director said that by doing so, we might have made the employee eligible for overtime pay. Is this true? …

Fee-Basis pay to maintain overtime exemption

09/05/2008
Q. Are there any alternatives to paying employees on a salary basis and having them remain exempt from the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act? …

What’s up in Washington: Minimum wage, child labor penalties

09/02/2008

Two key federal laws have changed, affecting how employers handle wage-and-hour issues. A new federal minimum wage went into effect in July, and civil penalties for child-labor law violations increased in May. Here is a summary of each development …

Calculating overtime when the workweek doesn’t correspond to pay periods

09/02/2008

Q. We pay our workers every two weeks. How should we calculate overtime? …

Grant maternity leave just as generously as you do other leave

09/02/2008
When it comes to maternity or childbirth leave, women have at least two federal laws that protect them from possible discrimination: the FMLA and the Pregnancy Discimination Act. Employers who understand that the FMLA and the PDA work together aren’t likely to make mistakes that result in lawsuits …

Cell phones, laptops and BlackBerrys: Understand the liability risks

08/27/2008

Before you hand out cell phones, laptops and BlackBerrys to everyone on your staff, understand that such tech tools may expose your organization to legal liability. Two legal minefields are particularly worrisome …