Archives
New Hourly Rates For Exempt Computer Pros
Under California wage and hour law, computer software professionals can qualify for overtime exemption if they meet certain duties requirements and are paid a specified hourly rate, set annually based on inflation rates by the state Department of Industrial Relations. On Jan. 1, 2007, the minimum hourly rate for exempt computer software professionals will be […]
Voters in Six States Pass Minimum Wage Hikes
Californians, whose minimum wage just climbed to $7.50 an hour, aren’t the only ones seeing a boost in the minimum wage in the new year. During the November 7 elections held across the nation, voters in six states approved measures to raise their minimum wage rates. Ohio and Colorado voters approved increases to $6.85; Arizona […]
Paid Sick Leave Approved In San Francisco
Employee Performance and Discipline: What Can I Do to Prevent “Negligent Retention” Lawsuits?
We recently got hit with a “negligent retention” suit and want to revamp our policies. We now know that we can be liable if we find out something bad about an employee but keep him or her on anyway, and then the employee does something to a client. Just how bad does that something have […]
You’re the Expert: Is it a good idea to stay in touch with employees who have left the organization?
Is it a good idea to stay in touch with employees who have left the organization in the hope that we can hire them back? How To Survive an Employee Lawsuit: 10 Tips for Success With lawsuits against employers becoming ever more common—and jury verdicts skyrocketing—your risk of getting sued has increased dramatically […]
Evaluations: How Can We Encourage Honest Performance Appraisals?
I’ve been reading about how important it is from a legal standpoint to give accurate performance appraisals, and when I look over ours, I know we’re not doing that—basically everyone is “good” or “excellent,” even though managers complain about poor workers. I know we’re going to get in trouble if we fire any of these […]
Theft: Can We Deduct the Cost of a Loss from the Whole Team?
We have agreed to operate on a team basis in our organization. We share workload, bonuses, etc. Now we’ve got a problem. We think someone on the team has stolen something from the office, but no one will admit to the theft. May we deduct a certain amount from each employee’s check to cover the […]
USERRA: What Do We Do with a Returning Vet Who Would Have Been Promoted but Isn’t Ready for the Higher-Level Job?
We’ve got a quandary. A number of our workers have been sent to Iraq and will be returning at some point. We are, of course, more than happy to reinstate them. But they will have missed a year or two of training and development. As we read the law, it looks like we must reinstate […]
Off Duty Activities: Can We Restrict or Prohibit Employees’ Second Jobs?
We’ve got some situations brewing concerning moonlighting. We have a few employees who are working during their off hours for a company that competes with us indirectly, and we have a few others who we believe are missing work due to jobs elsewhere. We also have a few who are obviously pretty tired—again, we think […]