Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
The other day, it was pointed out to me that we Americans like to be comfortable. It may seem like I’m stating the obvious here since no one likes to be uncomfortable. And maybe I am, but hear me out on this one. Do you know what the number one selling chair is in America? […]
The letter of the law may only require employers to extend breaks and access to a lactation room to eligible employees on an as needed basis, but many companies are taking a proactive approach and looking to implement policies that will boost employee retention. According to Eileen Shue, vice president of corporate resources for the […]
Employee retaliation claims are skyrocketing, and in 2011 these claims were the number one complaint to the EEOC. As a result, you need to know how to prevent retaliation claims from happening. At SHRM’s legislative conference in Washington, D.C. earlier this month, California employment attorney Jody Katz Pritikin, presented tips on how to prevent and […]
Even non-exempt employees can cause confusion and employer liability under the FLSA. Often, employers run into trouble when attempting to classify their employees for purposes of pay exemptions. But equally tricky is how to pay non-exempt employees who have non-traditional forms of payment, such as tipped employees. The recent slew of major FLSA wage and […]
In a recent move to encourage employers to correct past misclassification of workers, the IRS has established a voluntary compliance program, called the Voluntary Classification Settlement Program, or VCSP. The program permits employers to voluntarily reclassify their workers as employees for future tax periods with minimal tax liability for past non-employee treatment. To participate, an […]
By Arthur Silbergeld, Esq. Anyone who works on a computer knows the sinking feeling that comes with hitting that nasty combination of keystrokes causing your machine to freeze. The fact that many companies now keep IT staff available around the clock just to help frantic employees get their misbehaving computers working, retrieve lost documents and […]
by Jeffrey S. Beck Most employers are aware that to meet the burden of establishing a discrimination claim under the indirect method (i.e., without “smoking gun” evidence of discriminatory intent), an employee must offer evidence that similarly situated individuals outside her protected class were treated more favorably. While that principle is well established, cases can […]
Employers have many issues to consider when writing employee leave policies. Questions such as, “How will time accrue?” “When do employees become eligible for leave?” and “Under what circumstances should employees be paid when on leave?” barely scratch the surface. But when the issue is bereavement leave, employers may feel they have more at stake […]
Tips are the property of the employee, whether or not that employee has taken a tip credit under the Fair Labor Standards Act. So states Labor Department Fact Sheet #15A, released by the Wage and Hour Division in February. The fact sheet reflects tip credit regulations DOL updated in May 2011. Under the regulation, an […]
As the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division steps up enforcement initiatives, the need for employers to monitor their wage and hour practices is growing. Speaking at the Society for Human Resource Management’s 2012 Employment Law and Legislative Conference March 5, Tammy McCutchen of Littler Mendelson in Washington, a former Bush appointee at DOL, […]