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Wage and Hour: IBM Will Pay $65 Million to Settle Overtime Suit

IBM has agreed to pay $65 million to settle a class action lawsuit charging the computer firm with misclassifying employees as exempt from overtime. In particular, the suit alleges, IBM incorrectly classified technical services professionals and information technology specialists as exempt, even though those positions don’t qualify for exemption under California or federal wage and […]

Sex Discrimination: Pre-Hire Strength Test Was Biased, Says Court

A federal appeals court has ruled that a pre-employment strength test administered to applicants for jobs at Dial Corporation’s Armour Star sausage-making plant in Fort Madison, Iowa, discriminated against women. The decision upholds a lower court ruling last year ordering Dial to pay $3 million to a group of women who were rejected for hire […]

Key Steps for Avoiding Discrimination Lawsuits

Avoiding discrimination lawsuits is a matter of understanding the key issues and acting to prevent them. A sister publication has provided guidance on both. This week marks the 65th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack that drew the United States into World War II. It also marks one of the most shameful episodes of that […]

Holiday Season (and Year-Round) Stress: How to Handle It

Today’s workforce operates under high pressure, especially at holiday season. Here are some tools to help them handle the load. Holiday season is one of the most joyous times of the year, but it’s also one of the most stressful. Gift buying fever is at its peak, and the malls are jammed. Even worse are […]

Classification Changes: Do I have to notify an employee before I change her status from exempt to nonexempt?

Do I have to notify an employee before I change her status from exempt to nonexempt?     For various legal and practical reasons, you should give notice in this circumstance. Two of those reasons: 1) Employers are required to keep records of a nonexempt employee’s hours worked each day, which typically means that nonexempt […]

Are We Seeing the End of Lunch?

Workplace stress is causing a continuous … and many think unhealthy … decline in time off taken for lunch. Here’s what one government agency employer is doing about it. “What’s for lunch?” That’s a question millions of workers are NOT asking these days, according to trend studies conducted over the past few years. The studies […]

Wells Fargo Shells Out For Alleged Overtime Violations

Wells Fargo & Co. has agreed to pay $12.8 million to settle a class action lawsuit charging that the bank improperly classified certain business-systems employees in California and other states as exempt from overtime, in violation of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. The suit, filed in federal court in San Francisco, alleged that Wells […]