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In the February issue of CEA, we reported on a controversial U.S. Department of Labor advisory opinion that said you might have to include stock option profits in an hourly worker’s base pay and retroactively recalculate overtime figured on the new pay rate. The ruling has come under fire not just from employers, but also […]
In an advisory opinion that could give employers headaches, the U.S. Department of Labor says you may have to include stock option profits in an hourly worker’s base pay and retroactively calculate their overtime using the new pay rate. Although it’s unclear just how far-reaching this opinion will be, it raises some complicated issues that […]
When a group of Latino Avis Rent-A-Car employees at the San Francisco International Airport filed a harassment lawsuit charging a manager with using derogatory racial epithets, they were awarded more than $100,000 in damages. But the workers didn’t stop there. They also convinced the court to issue an order barring the manager from making offensive […]
San Jose’s City Council recently approved the highest living wage in the nation, guaranteeing certain workers far more than required by state or federal minimum wage laws. But San Jose’s new policy isn’t the first in California-and it looks like it won’t be the last.
Most employers are familiar with the basic concept of equal pay for equal work. But it’s critical to understand the details of the rules because you can be liable for hefty damages and penalties if you make a mistake. In Part 1 of our series on preventing equal pay problems, we’ll explain what your obligations […]
If you require employees to attend training or other meetings off-site, do you have to pay them for the extra time it takes them to get there? The answer is not always, at least if you’re a public employer. We’ll focus on a new case addressing this issue and then look at common travel time […]
Suppose you decide to terminate an employee as part of a reduction in force. You treat the worker the same as others selected for layoff and offer the same severance benefits. But the person turns around and sues, claiming the real reason you fired him was to retaliate for a discrimination claim he filed with […]
These days, it seems any time you terminate a worker 40 or over, you risk being hit with an age bias lawsuit. And, if you haven’t handled the termination by the book, you could get hammered with a big judgment. A recent steep arbitration award to an older employee who claimed he was illegally pressured […]
The nation’s largest privately held car rental company is the newest casualty in a growing list of high pro- file employers sued for misclassifying workers as managers. Management assistants for Enterprise Rent-A-Car recently filed a class-action lawsuit claiming they’re owed unpaid overtime because they were improperly treated as managerial employees exempt from the overtime laws.Claims […]
Congress recently changed the Fair Credit Reporting Act to require employers who obtain background reports on applicants and employees to follow detailed new authorization and disclosure rules. In an earlier article we described how these rules apply to credit reports. In this follow-up story, we’ll explain what the new law means for employers who […]