Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Employee burnout is a dreaded phenomenon—it can make even the best employees more likely to look for a new job, and, even if they’re not looking, productivity can suffer. Employees suffering from burnout are more likely to call out sick and are less likely to be satisfied with their job.
While employers can sometimes avoid extra liability in wage and hour claims by showing that they tried to comply with the law, that defense was of no use to an employer who, despite using an accountant, falsified employee time records.
Commission payments often make up a significant portion of the compensation paid to employees who work in sales. The structure of commission payments varies from industry to industry and from region to region, but commissions serve the same basic purpose: financially motivating employees to increase their sales with the promise of receiving higher income.
Employee handbooks are recommended for several reasons, including that they set forth key company policies. Well-written handbook policies state how compensation will be addressed and who has the power to bind the company. In a recent case, the Appellate Division, 1st Department, held that a company’s handbook was enough to defeat an employee’s claim to compensation based on oral promises.
California’s Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) has made multiple attempts to reduce workers’ compensation costs to employers and to improve compensation paid to workers. One persistent obstacle to cost containment is fraud, and the DIR has poured considerable resources into combating fraudulent worker claims, premium fraud, and most recently, provider fraud. In January, the DIR […]
The federal government has been granted more time to figure out what to do about overtime regulations that remain in judicial limbo. A federal appeals court on February 22 granted the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) its second extension in the proceedings, giving it until May 1 to take a position.
Violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and New York state’s Labor Law subject employers to paying employees back pay plus “liquidated” damages of an equal amount (in addition to reasonable attorneys’ fees). Recently, a question arose on whether an employee can “stack” liquidated damages under the FLSA and the Labor Law so that he scores a triple recovery: back pay and liquidated damages under the FLSA plus liquidated damages under the Labor Law.
Question: Can an employer refuse to pay an employee for time worked and/or overtime, if employee did not clock in for this time worked? Can an employer refuse to pay an employee for overtime, if company policy clearly states that overtime must have prior approval?
Imagine having difficulty scheduling childcare or attending classes after work to further your education, because your schedule was constantly changing from day to day and from week to week. People who work in the retail, food services, and hospitality industries often face this issue when trying to plan their life outside working hours.
A recent U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) settlement serves as a reminder for employers with tipped employees: you cannot require workers to share tips with nontipped staff. Doing so can leave an employer liable not only for the misappropriated tips, but also—because of a provision in the law—for back minimum wage and overtime payments that […]