Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
QUESTION: My company often sends employees home without pay for various offenses, such as egregious dress code violations, insubordination, and slacking off. Sometimes, the employee is told to return the next day, and sometimes the suspension runs for a few days or more while we investigate. I wouldn’t want anyone to know I’m asking, but […]
We’re trying to revise our travel reimbursement policies, and we need some help. We’re trying to simplify. Can we pay a per diem? Meanwhile, we’d rather just pay employees a set amount more in salary and not hassle at all with receipts and vouchers for every little thing. I understand that there’s a case now […]
We’ve gotten word that a union is going to try to organize our manufacturing arm’s workers. I’m not sure what to tell the managers and supervisors about how far they can go to encourage their workers to reject the union. Can you give some general guidelines? — Thomas T., HR Manager in Berkeley
What are the legal and pay issues around unpaid time off, especially for exempt employees? Our internal surveys show that our employees want more time off, and we want to respond—we want to be a “great place to work.” But we just don’t see that we can afford to add paid vacation or personal days. […]
We have a number of people who work on a straight commission basis. Do we have to track their hours? Do we owe overtime? — Kayla, HR Specialist in Citrus Heights
We have several employees who, as a result of downsizing, are now doing two different jobs during the same workweek. Can we pay them at two different rates? If so, how do we track the hours and how do we calculate their overtime? — Raphael, HR Manager in Bakersfield
We’re a little unsure about what we can require of our exempt employees without risking their exemptions. Can we make them punch a time clock or track their hours? We tried the time clock approach, but they resented it. They said we’re treating them like hourly workers. Also, can we make them work a minimum […]
We have an exempt worker who is going to reduce her hours by half. She currently makes $54,000 a year, and we agreed to just cut that in half. We have other employees who will take over parts of her tasks. She knows she will lose her health benefits. But what about vacation, sick time, […]
In the wake of recent disasters, we have realized that we don’t have good policies for dealing with pay during emergencies. For example, what if we have to close because of a power blackout? Also, the few times we’ve closed in the past, some people who lived close by came in anyway. The people who […]