Compliance with the FLSA can be tricky. For example, how do you pay a non-exempt employee who is on-call? When can you withhold pay for non-exempt employees? In a recent CER webinar, Ted Boehm answered these questions and many more. Here are some of the questions and answers from that program. Paying...

Generally, if you dock the pay of exempt workers, you kill their exemption because you are treating them like nonexempts. You could easily owe a few years' worth of overtime. But the laws do allow docking in certain circumstances. Here are those exceptions, along with a resource to make sure wage...

Because class action status can change a small comp issue into a massive lawsuit—one very attractive to contingency lawyers—wage/hour lapses could be your most dangerous mistakes. Here are 10 of the most common management moves that create wage/hour disasters. (Pay attention because you don't...

Exempt vs. nonexempt: California rules are tricky, to say the least. Many employers mistakenly believe that simply paying a salary (rather than an hourly wage) or bestowing an impressive job title is enough to make an employee exempt from the overtime rules. In fact, only one thing really matters—the...

Calculating overtime in California is extra complex because state and federal rules differ. Additionally, base rate calculations get complicated with commissions, bonuses, and other payments. What pay can be excluded when calculating the regular rate? How can employers be sure to be legally compliant...

Overtime in California can be a complex calculation, not the least of which is because the state laws for calculating overtime differ from federal law. This issue remains a priority because overtime violation complaints are on the rise. –Claims for unpaid overtime and other missed pay obligations...

When must you start paying overtime to a nonexempt employee? The answer depends on what state you’re operating in. Overtime pay rules in California differ from the federal overtime laws. If you’re an employer in California, it’s important to understand when your overtime obligations...

Yesterday’s CED discussed types of compensation that must be included in the “regular rate” and the subsequent recalculation of overtime that must be done. Today, the five types of compensation that generally do not have to be included when calculating the “regular rate”...

Employees who do two different types of tasks may be paid different hourly rates during the workweek. Or an employee may work in two or more different positions during the same workweek at different rates of pay. But how do you calculate the overtime? The general rule is that all hours worked in all...

In the last issue of CED , we considered non-exempt compensation challenges during emergency closings. Today, we'll look at exempts and some related hassles. Exempt Employees and Disasters Exempt employees are generally paid their normal amount if the workday is shortened. Docking (reducing pay of...

Natural disasters can be scary, disruptive, and catastrophic to both individuals and businesses. And as if that weren’t bad enough, they are always accompanied by scads of picky wage and hour questions, too. If your business opens two hours late due to a relatively minor earthquake, should you...

Are all your employees accurately classified as exempt or nonexempt? Are you sure? The costs of misclassification can add up quickly, and the DOL estimates that nearly 70 percent of employers are not in compliance. You shouldn't risk it. By learning how to conduct an internal payroll self-audit that...

Overtime laws in California differ from the federal laws. If you have employees in California, you need to know your overtime obligations. In a CER webinar titled "Exemption Audits in California: Practical Strategies for Conducting a Successful Self-Audit of Your Job Classifications," Allen...

Exempt vs. non-exempt: California rules are tricky, to say the least. Many employers mistakenly believe that simply paying a salary (rather than an hourly wage) or bestowing an impressive job title is enough to make an employee exempt from the overtime rules. In fact, only one thing really matters—the...

Calculation of overtime in California differs from other states in regard to what hours count toward the total hours worked in the week, and that’s just the beginning. Even the best HR professionals can find the topic of paying overtime in California perplexing. Questions arise about what exactly...

Yesterday , we looked at a wage/hour lawsuit involving interns who worked on the Oscar-winning film “Black Swan.” Today, the California-specific rules on interns— and an introduction to a can’t-miss event later this year that will get you fully up to speed on all things workplace...

Two former interns recently sued the producer of the Oscar-winning film “Black Swan” for minimum wage and overtime law violations, hitting headlines nationwide. The case is a good illustration of some of the inherent dangers of taking on interns. Although internship programs offer employers...

Yesterday , we looked at some of the federal tests for determining whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor for wage/hour purposes. What factors does California look at? A Clarification That’s Essentially Meaningless A May 2010 decision by the California Supreme Court clarified...

What do short stories by O. Henry and independent contractor analysis have in common? You’re left guessing the outcome until the very end, says attorney Deanna Brinkerhoff. The federal Department of Labor (DOL) is cracking down on classification, and that makes now an excellent time to evaluate...

If you have a nondiscretionary bonus plan that is awarded to nonexempt employees at intervals greater than each week (for example, on a quarterly, semiannual, or annual basis), you are required to retroactively calculate the bonus into the employee’s “regular rate” of pay. You’re...