Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
I have a question regarding exempt salaried employees who work 40 hour work weeks. Can their salary and hourly work weeks be decreased? For example if they had $4450 in monthly earnings working 40 hour work weeks, Could I decrease their salary by 20% and now have them work 32 hour work weeks? If this […]
This economy has hit our small retail Insurance Agency hard, we laid off an employee May ’08, another at the end of ’08, cut wages—by 15%—last May (’09) and have done many other things to cut our expenses. Unfortunately we need to lay off three more employees next week … two of the three we […]
If an employee injures third parties while working, his or her employer can be held liable for those injuries. Normally, an employee’s regular commute to and from work is not considered to be “working” time, so employers aren’t responsible for accidents that happen then. A California court, however, recently held that an employee who is […]
We are an employer with fewer than 10 employees. Can a single employee elect an alternative work week? If she does, can she work weeks that look like this?: M-10, T-3, W-5, Th-8, F-4, Sa-10 First, the alternative work week rules apply to all California employers regardless of the size of the company, although there […]
Reacting to the persistent economic downturn and the inevitable reductions in force that have followed, the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has issued guidance for employers regarding how to draft severance agreements that release potential bias claims.
With the economy still on shaky ground, many employers are desperate to cut costs. But it’s important not to let financial desperation cause you to make bad business choices—such as going into business with the wrong people. As one employer learned, the consequences can be far more costly in the long run.
By now, most employers have at least heard that California prohibits “use it or lose it” vacation policies—meaning that once an employee earns vacation time, that time can’t be forfeited for any reason. But can an employer decide not to award vacation time right away to new employees? The answer is yes—according to a recent […]
Jennifer Scott was the director of the Rocklin (near Sacramento) campus of Phoenix Schools, Inc.—a franchise of private preschools.
A recent California appeals court decision highlights the importance of carefully drafted commission pay agreements.