Tag: Wage Hour

DOL Releases Official Proposal to Raise Federal Contractor Minimum Wage to $10.10

U.S. Labor Secretary Thomas E. Perez released a proposed rule to raise the minimum wage for federal contractor employees on new contracts to $10.10 on June 12. President Obama directed the U.S. Department of Labor to issue the rule in February. The rule provides guidance and sets standards for employers for contractor employees, and it […]

PA Mistake #7—Gaming the System

[Go here for sins 1 to 6.] Sin #7. Gaming the system “John’s work is just OK, to be sure, but I need to give him a big raise to keep him, so he gets an ‘excellent.’” “I can’t stand Sandy, but I can’t transfer him unless he has a high rating; let his next […]

Performance Appraisals—10 Most Common Sins

Sin #1. Failure to set meaningful goals “Well, Sandy, I think we did fairly well this year, eh?” “Tracy, I was sort of hoping you’d make more progress this year.” Evaluation is difficult when there aren’t clear, measurable goals. Many experts recommend the S-M-A-R-T approach to setting goals. That means goals should be: Specific Measurable […]

Out of PTO, Can’t Deduct, What Can You Do?

Here’s how to approach the situation: First, if it is important for the employees to be in the office during consistent work hours, make sure that is explained in a written policy. If the policy does not yet exist, create it if this is critical to your business. Make it part of the employee handbook […]

When Exempt Employee Has No PTO, Takes Time Off

PTO helps to bridge the gap between being required to pay salaried employees their full salary in a given workweek (even if they don’t work a full workweek), while also balancing how much time off can be taken without it becoming a problem. Employers often find themselves in a conundrum, however, over how to handle […]

Friending, Unfriending, and Linking In on Social Media

Casual References Casual references on LinkedIn or other professional social media sites pose legal risks: Defamation (if they are negative and untrue). Misrepresentation (if they are positive and untrue). Evidence of pretext in an EEO claim (if you terminate for poor performance but you’ve written a glowing recommendation on LinkedIn). Segal’s recommendation: Make clear to […]

Penalties Await Plans That Ignore ACA’s High-litigation Risks

Employers have cited complying with the Affordable Care Act as their number one concern in surveys, and that wouldn’t be the case if there weren’t taxes and money penalties backing it up. This is true even though the government postponed until 2015 penalties for failure to comply with the ACA’s play-or-pay mandates, temporarily reducing the […]

State Actions Reshaping Minimum Wage Debate

A wave of state minimum wage increases and proposed bills is reshaping efforts to raise the federal minimum wage. Dozens of states have taken up minimum wage bills over the last year, with five states — Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Minnesota and West Virginia — passing measures in the last few months. According to the National […]