Unlimited vacation is a growing trend that may be a good way for organizations to provide an incentive or bonus to employees to reward them for good work without increasing salaries or providing bonuses or other kinds of incentives. The concept of unlimited vacation is very simple: Employees can take vacation, personal, and sick time [...]

by Kara E. Shea
I’ve been working with several clients lately on Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) compliance issues — specifically, on exemption classification audits. During an audit, I review all the jobs an employer has deemed exempt from overtime under the FLSA and try to decide whether the positions have been correctly classified. It’s a [...]

by Gary S. Fealk
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), certain employees may be exempt from overtime pay.

An enthusiastic and energetic individual approaches you with a proposal to volunteer his time to gain valuable experience in your industry. “After all,” reasons the prospective volunteer, “how can I get my first job if I have no experience in the field of my choice?” Sounds like a win-win situation, doesn’t it?
Like many win-win situations [...]

by Kara E. Shea
I recently participated in hosting a Wage and Hour Virtual Summit webinar. Wage and hour compliance — overtime, work-time issues, exempt status — is always a lively topic and typically results in lots of questions and feedback. This time around, most of the feedback surrounded remarks I made about individual liability under [...]

by Jim Brown and Marc Koonin
Companies with employees working in California must always remain mindful of the state’s protectionist wage and hour laws. You must always comply with federal standards and all California laws that provide greater protections for employees than the federal requirements. Failure to do so might be an unwelcome invitation to a [...]

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the federal law that governs wages and overtime pay, has been the topic of numerous articles in state Employment Law Letters.  We’ve reported on the rise of wage and hour lawsuits filed state courts and we highlighted what federal courts consider “acceptable terms” for an FLSA settlement agreement What [...]

Employment law attorney Robert P. Tinnin, Jr., answers an HR practitioner’s question about improving a flextime program that has become unmanageable.

by Jonathan C. Sterling
Because one of the most difficult tasks HR professionals face is determining whether their employees are exempt, each time a decision is issued on the topic by an appeals court, it’s worth noting and taking guidance from. The latest decision from the Second Circuit relates to the administrative exemption, which applies to [...]

by Mark Wiletsky
Although we’re beginning to see signs of an economic recovery, many organizations are still grappling with how to stay competitive in this challenging environment. Layoffs, furloughs, and other methods used to cut personnel costs are often part of the equation. But the savings gained by those cost-cutting measures can be lost if employees [...]