Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
On January 12, 2024, the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals (whose rulings apply to employers in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming, as well as two other states not included in Mountain West Employment Law Letter) asked the Colorado Supreme Court to clarify whether holiday incentive pay must be included when calculating an employee’s […]
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires employers to pay overtime to nonexempt employees based on their regular pay rate and the number of hours worked in a workweek. While this sounds straightforward on paper, employers commonly fail to realize that nondiscretionary bonus payments must be included in calculating the regular pay rate and, ultimately, […]
Many companies annually prepare business goals and establish incentives for employees if the goals are met. One common incentive is the quarterly or annual bonus. While the reward process seems straightforward, it can come with unexpected obligations and complicated calculations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Let’s take a closer look at exactly which […]
New England Patriots signal caller Tom Brady is arguably the best quarterback of all time. Many have referred to him as the GOAT: greatest of all time. That is because of his many Super Bowl victories, the records he has broken, and the fact he has been at the top of his game for 20 […]
A few weeks ago, I wrote an article about compensation practices that included a brief look at pay approaches including single-rate pay, step-based pay, and a slew of pay differentials. Taking it a step further, this article is about pay actions and explains the types, why they occur, and how they’re communicated to employees.
Like other professionals, compensation professionals can throw around a bunch of terms and acronyms that may or may not make a lot of sense to those not in the field. And, when we’re asked what they mean, we’re sometimes stymied when providing easy to understand definitions that are clear and concise.
If you work in HR then you’re always busy and, as a result, your job grade data might be a smidge past its shelf life. It’s not that you don’t want up-to-the-minute salary range data but there’s almost always something else more pressing that needs your attention so it’s really easy to tell yourself—if it […]
At some point along the way, you’ve probably heard a comment about, talking the talk vs. walking the walk, with the implication being that action is more important than words. In a lot of ways that might be true. When it comes to compensation, however, talking the talk is pretty important, too.
Payments provided to employees for food—as long as they are reasonable and for the employer’s benefit—do not need to be counted as wages when calculating overtime, a federal appeals court has ruled.
Pay compression is the situation in which an organization has negligible differences in pay between people who have differing skill sets and/or experience levels. It often happens when current employee pay raises don’t keep up with increases in the market pay rate—resulting in a situation in which new hires are hired in at levels similar […]