Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
By Geoffrey D. Rieder Are employees who commute from home to a remote worksite entitled to minimum wage for time spent traveling to and from the worksite? The New Mexico Court of Appeals recently addressed this question.
We’re considering changing our meals reimbursement policy from reimbursement of actual costs to a standard meal allowance for out of state travel. The objective is to make the expense fully deductible to the employer for tax purposes. What is the best way to go about this and are there any specific concerns? What (if any) […]
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the U.S. Department of Labor recently published a proposal to revise the EEO-1 reporting form in order to annually collect summary pay data by gender, race, and ethnicity from businesses with 100 or more employees. A copy of the proposed form is available on the EEOC’s website.
We run an assisted living facility. We had a blizzard in our area last week and asked for employees to volunteer to spend the night in case they were not able to get in the next day.
By Susan Schoenfeld, JD The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) recently announced a number of settlements in enforcement cases against federal government contractors demonstrating a continued emphasis on pursuing systemic hiring and pay discrimination claims against government contractors. Settlements cost ranged from $165,000 to $1.8 million and required the affected contractors to take […]
By Joshua A. Cline, JD Most employers know that failing to pay minimum wage or overtime can lead to serious consequences. When employees file lawsuits claiming unpaid overtime wages, they can bring in their coworkers, leading to lawsuits that are both costly to defend and costly to settle.
By Michael P. Maslanka, JD The question of whether lunch breaks are compensable recently surfaced in a case from the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals (which covers Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas). The court’s decision is instructive and provides a timely reminder that the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is fraught with danger.
Our office was forced to close for two days due to flooding in our area. How do we handle paying the employees who were scheduled to work on these days? What about the people who had scheduled vacation time and personal hours on these days?
By Susan Prince, JD, M.S.L. A joint employment relationship and the responsibilities that go with it can be very confusing for employers. Just establishing whether or not a joint employment relationship even exists can be a point of contention. Therefore, on January 20, 2016, the federal Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) […]
By Maggie LeBato, JD A recent case decided by the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans (which covers Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas) serves as good guidance for hospitality and restaurant industry employers with tipped employees.