We talk regularly about the DOL’s focus on misclassifications or the potential liability for unpaid overtime, but these are all civil penalties. Although they are somewhat rare, the FLSA and other wage and hour statutes provide opportunities for criminal charges against employers. In ...

Yesterday, we discussed the Pay Period Leap Year and what it means for employers. If your first weekly paychecks would normally issue this Friday, January 1, 2016, you will have a fifty-third pay period on December 31, 2015. If your ...

Historical records show that at least twice in history, countries have observed February 30 on the calendar.  Sweden added the date to its 1712 calendar to correct an earlier calendar error and the Soviet Union observed February 30 in 1930 ...

Last week, a federal judge in the Northern District of Illinois ruled against a group of Chicago police officers who claimed that the department had unwritten rules that discouraged them from turning in overtime for off-duty work performed on their BlackBerrys. ...

Most employers with handbooks or comprehensive policies have at least some kind of reminder to employees that looks like this: It is the employee’s responsibility to keep their employment records up to date, including home address, telephone number, dependents and ...

With the Department of Labor planning to release new Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) regulations in 2016, one question that I get frequently is what will happen to part-time exempt employees–professionals (nurses, accountants, etc.), managers, or other administrative personnel who ...

Last month, we talked about Rep. Jeff Denham (R-CA)’s Amendment 783 to the Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision for the Economy (DRIVE) Act (the formal name for H.R. 22, the House’s version of the transportation bill).  Yesterday, Congress announced ...

Many employers take their employee handbooks and policies for granted, or at least let them collect dust.  Written correctly, a handbook will clearly and succinctly outline your expectations and your key policies.  It’s a vital communication tool and can help ...

Last week we discussed pitfalls in ignoring and strategies for addressing labor and employment issues in due diligence from both the buyer and seller side, but with special attention to buyers.  I wanted to finish the series with a larger point ...

Yesterday, we discussed the DOL’s focus on employers’ per diem payments to employees.  I promised an easy–and more easily defensible–solution to employers who want to pay per diems but don’t want the headache of tracking every last receipt that comes ...