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President Clinton has signed into law new legislation, S. 2323, that excludes stock options from overtime pay. The bill takes effect on August 16, 2000, and is intended to counteract a recent Department of Labor opinion letter stating that stock option profits must be included in a nonexempt worker’s base pay when you calculate their […]
Come July, you can expect several changes in the wage and hour regulations. That’s because the new daily overtime law gives the California Industrial Welfare Commission until July 2000 to review the current overtime rules and come up with new regulations and wage orders. At stake are modifications to a variety of wage and hour […]
If you’re looking for a free or low-cost way to boost your employee benefit package, a transportation spending account may be the way to go. These programs involve some administrative burdens, but they can result in income tax savings for employees and FICA tax savings for both you and your workers. Until now, many employers […]
The IRS has increased the mileage rate commonly used to reimburse employees for business use of a car from 31 cents to 32.5 cents per mile. The new rate applies to miles driven beginning January 1, 2000.
One advantage of using independent contractors has traditionally been that you could not be sued for many employment-related disputes. But because Governor Davis has just signed a new law expanding harassment protections to independent contractors, you will now have to be more cautious in how you deal with them. The measure takes effect January 1, […]
Here is a handy list of California’s 15 industry and occupational wage orders:
When the U.S. Department of Labor issued an opinion two years ago suggesting that absences due to the common cold or flu could sometimes qualify as family leave, it was greeted with consternation by many employers. Now, in a new decision, a California appellate court has overturned a $118,000 verdict in favor of a worker […]
After selling and delivering bottled water for more than three years, Peter Ramirez quit his job and sued his employer, Yosemite Water Company, for back overtime. His lawsuit, which went all the way to the California Supreme Court, highlights how difficult it can be to determine whether or not outside sales personnel qualify as exempt […]
Employers who provide on-site meals to certain workers have been given a break by the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal. Boyd Gaming Corp., which owns casinos in Nevada, offered workers free meals in an on-site cafeteria because it required them for security reasons to remain on the premises for their entire shift. But when […]
Governor Wilson recently approved two laws, one of which will make it easier for smaller employers to offer health benefits to part-time workers, and the other which changes the unemployment insurance rules to allow benefits to employees who are victims of domestic violence. Both measures take effect on January 1, 1999. Here are the key […]