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Holidays PTO Survey: Floating Holidays

How many floating holidays (including Christmas week) are observed besides those already indicated above? (Exclude “personal days”)   None 1 day 2 days 3 days 4+ days Exempt  Employees 561 (65%) 124 (14.4%) 89 (10.3%) 33 (3.8%) 45 (5.2%) Nonexempt  Empoyees 556 (64.4%) 123 (14.3%) 86 (10%) 30 (3.5%) 48 (5.6%) In chart form: Previous       Next

Exempt Employees: Docking Errors May Cost Employer $7 Million; When You Can—And Can’t—Correct Docking Mistakes

The rules on when you can legally dock exempt employees’ pay are complex, and it’s easy to make mistakes. For example, if you dock when you shouldn’t, the person could be considered an hourly worker entitled to back overtime. However, under a special federal provision known as the “window of correction” rule, you may be […]

New Supervisors: Two Critical Success Factors

New supervisors have a lot to learn about managing their people, and that’s to say nothing of the numerous compliance challenges they face. Compassionate but untrained supervisors can quickly create surprisingly expensive liabilities.

IRS Opens Safe Harbors to Reform’s Play-or-Pay Rules

Employers may use look-back periods of up to 12 months, rather than a shorter period as initially established — to average out how many hours an employee works per week, which is a necessity when calculating an employer’s obligation under reform’s play-or-pay provisions. IRS Notice 2012-58 may help some employers escape erroneous shared-responsibility payments under health […]

Documentation, Consistency Protect Employer from FMLA Retaliation Claim

By Charlie Plumb, JD, McAfee & Taft Taking action against an employee after she returns from a Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) absence can expose an employer to claims of FMLA retaliation. But sometimes it takes an employee’s absence to learn about her performance issues. So how should an employer handle disciplining someone who is returning […]

Supreme Court Denies Wal-Mart Class-Action

By Megan E. Snyder The U.S. Supreme Court recently handed down a decision in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, a landmark case involving 1.5 million female current and former Wal-Mart employees who attempted to challenge the retail giant’s employment practices. Essentially, the women complained that local stores have too much discretion in making decisions about […]

What does the immigration executive action mean for employers?

by Christine D. Mehfoud Whether the president’s recent series of immigration-related executive actions will survive potential legal challenges and congressional action remains to be seen. For now, set aside your political views (while I love a good political debate, this space is for practical business implications), and let’s focus on how the executive actions will […]

DOL’s Overtime Proposal Would Double Salary Threshold

The long-awaited proposed rules to update the Fair Labor Standards Act overtime exemptions, issued June 30 by the U.S. Department of Labor, would extend overtime protections to an additional 5 million workers in 2016. The proposed changes would extend overtime coverage to all workers making up to approximately $50,400 per year. The proposal, released just under […]

A Simple Tool to Avoid Major HR Errors

In the heat of making an HR decision, are you sure you’ve considered all the key factors? Here’s a tool to help you do it. Anyone needing to conduct an investigation of workplace wrongdoing who read yesterday’s Advisor article on the subject should be grateful to Deborah J. Muller and Michael E. Ferrans. These two […]

New Law Bans Texting While Driving; Download a Sample Policy Now

Now that the state budget stalemate has finally ended, Governor Schwarzenegger has gotten back to the work of signing bills sent to him by the legislature, and his last day to do so was September 30. One of the first bills penned into law expands the existing ban on driving while using a cell phone […]