Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
We’ve had a string of sad situations recently that have really tested our bereavement leave policy. We currently offer three days off for the death of an employee’s immediate family member. One situation involved the death of a family member on the East Coast, for which our employee wanted five days of bereavement leave. Another […]
We’ve got a situation around our PTO (Paid Time Off) program. When we first initiated it, people liked it, and we thought that the very clear policy—exceed your accrued PTO days and you won’t get paid for any additional time off—would work well. We figured employees would hoard their days, and that we’d only have […]
Our PTO program wraps together all time off—sick leave, vacation, and personal time. Now we’ve had a suggestion that we allow “gifting” of PTO time; that is, permit workers with excess time to give it to a worker who, say, ran out of time and is dealing with an issue, such as his or her […]
When an employee is out of work on workers’ compensation, and so is getting partial pay, and they take sick days out of our bank, do they get paid sick pay plus comp? Or can we somehow allocate the sick time to just the difference between workers’ comp and the employee’s regular pay? — Margaret […]
We’re considering moving to a Paid Time Off (PTO) program instead of our current separate bundles of vacation, sick time, and personal leave, and we have a bunch of questions. When companies make this switch, do they just add up the number of days and then lump them all together? Impose any restrictions on taking […]
The California labor commissioner has withdrawn an existing opinion letter regarding employer-mandated use of vacation and other paid time off (PTO) for exempt employees, as well as the use of vacation or PTO for partial-day absences. We’ll explain what the commissioner’s action means and how it will affect your workplace.
Last-minute absences have always been a problem for employers. But according to the annual CCH Unscheduled Absence Survey, they’re now at a five-year high.
To be exempt from overtime, an employee must, among other requirements, be paid a predetermined minimum salary, currently at least $2,340 a month, regardless of the quality or quantity of hours worked. However, both federal and California law permit you to dock an exempt employee’s salary under certain circumstances without losing the worker’s exempt status. […]
If you’re planning to close your doors for the holidays to help trim costs, and you want exempt employees to use up their accrued vacation during this period, you may want to review whether your plans comply with state wage and hour rules regarding exempt employees. A recent opinion letter from the state Division of […]