Month: June 2012

Can You Pay Different Hourly Rates for Different Work? (Sure, but …)

Employees who do two different types of tasks may be paid different hourly rates during the workweek. Or, an employee may work in two or more different positions during the same workweek at different rates of pay. But how do you calculate the overtime? The general rule is that all hours worked in all positions […]

Employers Are Likely to Cover Mandates Even if High Court Strikes Health Reform

As you must know by now, regardless of how the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the federal health care reform, a couple of very large insurers announced they would continue several of health reform’s insurance mandates. The impact of this announcement directly applies to companies that buy full insurance. But self-insured plans and employers big enough […]

2 Big Insurers Pledge to Cover Mandates Even if Health Reform Is Cast Out

Regardless of how the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the federal health care reform,  Humana and UnitedHealth Group on June 11 announced that they would continue several of health reform’s insurance mandates. The U.S. Supreme Court is considering whether the “individual mandate” (for everyone to get health insurance or pay a penalty) is unconstitutional, but […]

New NLRB website highlights “protected concerted activity”

by Tammy Binford The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is continuing efforts to broaden its impact on the workforce with the launch of a webpage aimed at communicating to workers how they can use the law in disputes with their employers. The webpage is the latest of several recent NLRB moves that many employers find […]

What Does it Take to Be Successful? Ask an Expert

Oswald, CEO of BLR, offered his thoughts on business success in a recent edition of The Oswald Letter. If you want to learn how to throw a great curve ball, Oswald continues, ask someone who throws a wicked curve ball. If you want to know how to bake the perfect chocolate cake, talk to the […]

Hurricanes, Tornados, and Wildfires: Who Gets Paid When You Close?

If a company opens two hours late because of a snowstorm, should an employer pay employees who show up earlier because they didn’t hear the announcement? What time does the workday end when employees are given the option to go home because an incident such as a gas leak forces evacuation of the building? What […]

An I-9 Compliance Checklist

When the government cracks down, as it has been doing over I-9 forms and immigration procedures, it’s vital to ensure that your processes are correct. This checklist can help.

Five Quick Rules for New Supervisors and Managers

The business landscape abounds with HR-related traps for unwary new supervisors or managers, and the stakes are too high to think that they can get trained on the job. In yesterday’s Advisor,  we talked about supervisors and managers who tried to be good supervisors, but their good intentions backfired. Instead, they laid the groundwork for […]

Supreme Court Rejects DOL View; Rx Sales Reps are “Outside Sales” Employees

In a blow to a U.S. Department of Labor position, a divided Supreme Court ruled today that pharmaceutical sales representatives qualify for the “outside sales” exemption of the Fair Labor Standards Act. In an opinion delivered by Justice Samuel Alito, the Court found that under the most reasonable interpretation of DOL regulations, PSRs qualified as […]

U.S. Supreme Court rules drug reps are exempt as “outside salesmen”

By Nancy Williams Pharmaceutical representatives who persuade physicians to prescribe specific drugs don’t make any actual sales. They can’t because the products they promote can be sold legally only through a doctor’s prescription to an individual patient. Yet for years, it has been a common industry practice to categorize such employees as outside sales representatives […]