Tag: Wage Hour

Will DOL Do Your FLSA Audit for You?

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is getting tough on wage and hour violations, and you don’t want them to be the ones doing your FLSA audit. Far better to find and fix problems—before DOL starts going over your books. It shouldn’t be hard to calculate pay and overtime, yet employers are losing big–dollar wage […]

‘Standard Annoyance Time’: Hidden Hassles for HR Abound

Most people are happy to gain an hour’s sleep when we go from daylight saving back to standard time on November 4. But HR managers have to brace for a double hassle. Come 2 a.m., Sunday morning, sleep an extra hour, everyone, unless you work the night shift. Then you’ll probably have to work an […]

Want to Avoid FLSA Problems? Do a Self-Audit

FLSA violations are now the Department of Labor’s top enforcement target. Here’s how to use a self-audit to stay out of the bull’s-eye. In yesterday’s article on telecommuters suing their employers, most of the legal action described was over the issue of overtime payments. With workers geographically outside the employer’s control, there often is no […]

Attorneys Offer Tips to Avoid Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) Lawsuits

Leading attorneys say you can stay dry in a rising tide of FLSA lawsuits by auditing your exempt/nonexempt classifications and maintaining a strict policy against improper deductions from pay. If you’d like your company to join the ranks of Wal-Mart, Starbucks, Radio Shack, and IBM, that’s easy to do. No, not in making stratospheric levels […]

On-Call Workers: Does FLSA Make You Pay Them to Wait?

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), you have to pay on-call workers as they wait. Well, sometimes, anyway. Here are the criteria. The week between Christmas and New Year’s is traditionally a “stand-down” time at many businesses. A lot of employees choose to use this week to burn off remaining vacation time rather than […]

Want to Avoid Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) Problems? Do a Self-Audit

If the government is willing to go after the world’s largest store on FLSA, they’ll go after anyone. Here’s how to keep the Washington wolves from your door. Wal-Mart has been in the news lately, and not just for having “always the low price.” According to government allegations, Wal-Mart has also had “sometimes the low […]

FLSA Rewinds the Time Clock

FLSA pressures are bringing back the time clock, and some workers are more than a little ticked off. It’s baaaack! No, not some undead spirit from a horror movie, but something just as upsetting to some workers … the old-fashioned, punch-in and punch-out time clock. Time clocks never really left industrial workplaces, but that’s not […]

Will your overtime payment practices trigger a Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) audit?

Many employers are worrying overtime about overtime as the Fair Labor Standards Act is used more aggressively, and against some of the biggest players in business. Competitors in the retail business have been reluctant to take on Wal-Mart, the world’s biggest retail chain. No such problem for the U.S. Dept. of Labor. The department’s bird […]

Update Your Job Descriptions for New Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) Overtime Rules

Executive Summary New Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) overtime rules raise the salary threshold for exemption almost threefold, to $455 per week FLSA rules say job title is insufficient to establish exemption Detailed, accurate job descriptions are required to support overtime pay exemption under FLSA guidelines, says Department of Labor (DOL) The U.S. Department of […]