As a result of a federal investigation, businesses were ordered to cough up $672,333 to reimburse 273 employees who were shortchanged in their paychecks.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division thoroughly reviews payroll records and employment practices. The Division also interviewed employees to learn more about employers’ compliance (and non-compliance) with labor laws.

The most common problems uncovered included employers that:

• didn’t pay employees for all hours worked (including before and after scheduled hours)
• paid workers in cash — to keep it “off the books”
• paid people a fixed salary — while ignoring minimum wage and overtime pay requirements
• failed to pay people on scheduled paydays, and
• didn’t keep accurate records of wages and work hours.

While this investigation targeted California locations, the enforcement sends a message to many other types of businesses.

“As demonstrated by the success of our ongoing initiatives, we are committed to strengthening FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act) compliance in the restaurant industry to protect workers and ensure a level playing field for the many employers who abide by the law and properly pay their employees,” said a regional administrator for the feds.

Under the FLSA, eligible employees must be paid at least $7.25 an hour, the federal minimum wage. They also must be paid time-and-a-half for time worked in excess of 40 hours over the course of a week.

In the restaurant industry, it’s not unusual for servers to earn less than federal minimum wage.

In addition, employers are required to keep accurate records of wages, hours and employment conditions.

The FLSA also makes it clear that employers that retaliate against employees who stand up for their rights are likely to face punishment.

The FLSA is enforced in virtually all businesses, not just the restaurant industry.

Year-end is a good time for Human Resources to urge supervisors to help review employment records and assignments. Changes do occur over the course of a year that could be overlooked in updating records.

The post Could you afford the cost of ignoring FLSA? This time, it was $672,000 appeared first on HR Daily Report.

With Christmas and New Year’s both falling on Tuesday, many employers are offering people three days off, rather than the usual two.

Bloomberg BNA’s Year-End Holiday Practices Survey examines trends each year in how time off is allotted around the holidays.

For the past two years, the winter holidays fell on weekends. That meant that not as many employees were offered three days off.

The survey — which covered a broad range of public and private companies — also asked businesses about holiday work shifts and holiday gifts and bonuses.

Trending over the past three years:

• For the 2012-2013 holiday season, 58% of employers have scheduled (at least) three days off for worker.
• During the 2011-2012 holiday season, 42% scheduled at least three days, and
• During the 2010-2011 holiday season, 36% scheduled at least three days.

How is this time breaking down?

For starters, just more than half — 51% — of U.S. companies said they were planning to give employees a long weekend right off the bat by making Dec. 24 a holiday.

Manufacturing and non-manufacturing companies generally had different policies, with manufacturing employees being dealt and better hand.

• 85% of manufacturers are offering three (or more) days of paid time off.
• 52% of non-manufacturing companies, and
• 51% of non-business organizations (hospitals, government agencies, etc.)

Smaller is bigger:

• 65% of people who are part of small staffs (fewer than 1,000 employees) could see three or more days off, and
• 48% of employees for larger companies will share that benefit.

Are holiday gifts and bonuses an image fading in our collective rear-view mirrors?

Not for everyone.

Nearly half — 45% — of employers will distribute holiday bonuses and/or gifts this year, about the same as last year.

Bonus and gift giving bottomed out in 2009 at 33%.

At the other end of the spectrum, many workplaces and employees are involved in charitable endeavors around this time of the year.

• 63% of companies will sponsor charitable activities this year
• 40% will sponsor toy collections
• 37% will be involved in food collection and distribution
• 20% will sponsor clothing drives, and
• 16% will collect and distribute money.

Is your business involved in any charitable projects this holiday season? Please tell us about it by writing below.

The post Little extra in many employees’ stockings: 3rd day off appeared first on HR Daily Report.

This experience — legally, Jaszczyszyn v.  Advantage Health Physician Network — started like many other Family and Medical Leave Act snarls: Employee claims physical problem (which suddenly worsens). Employee is approved for intermittent FMLA leave.

Employee decides that means she can take as much time as she wants, whenever she wants it.

Employer feels powerless to prevent it.

Then, this same employee who isn’t able to make it into work posts Facebook pictures of her enjoying herself at an ethnic heritage festival — over a period of eight hours.

Her co-workers — who were stuck taking up the slack during her absence — were not amused. After they saw the pictures they complained to the boss, who also checked them out.

Then, two predictable events occurred:

• Several days later, the employee was fired, and
• She filed FMLA interference and retaliation claims against her (former) employer.

But the case swung in favor of the employer on one critical point: The business showed it had an “honest belief” the worker was being less than sincere.

Specifically, the company responded precisely as a business in that position should.

Reviewed FMLA with employee

Instead of taking immediate action, the company thoroughly investigated the matter.

The first step: It invited the employee to come in and discuss the specifics of her leave of absence.

When they sat down to talk, the company:

• reviewed and confirmed her requests for FMLA time up until that point
• confirmed with the employee her injuries and how they prevented her from doing her job
• made sure she understood how seriously the employer felt about fraud, and
• showed her the pictures posted on Facebook and explained why it thought they showed inconsistency with her need for leave and with her FMLA certification — which said she was “completely incapacitated.”

Then, the employer asked the worker to explain how someone who claimed to suffer from “complete incapacitation” could be the same person enjoying herself in the Facebook photos.

Her answer: She was in pain but just not showing it.

Try again, her employer said.

She had nothing to say.

Best defense for FMLA abuse

So what’s the best defense for an employer that fires someone for FMLA abuse?

Start with the honest belief that fraud has occurred, the courts caution.

Then, no matter how obvious the case for fraud might appear to be, conduct a thorough investigation and give the employee the opportunity to explain his or her actions.

Courts require due process to make a fair decision. Employers that conduct their own due process investigations make it much easier for courts to decide whether the employer’s reasons are justified.

When done properly — as it was in this case — the employee has no answers and essentially fires him or herself.

The post Suspect FMLA scam? How you can prove it — and fire without fear appeared first on HR Daily Report.

Depending on the state where they’re working, men can make $20,000 to $30,000 more a year than women who work in the same field, according to numbers collected and crunched by 24/7 Wall Street.

The same research shows that male corporate managers can out-earn their female counterparts by an estimated $35,000 annually.

It’s not as simple as adding up a few numbers, though, experts caution.

There are factors in play in certain states that skew the results and tilt the male’s average salary higher than women’s, based on predominant industry or employment source.

For instance, in areas where blue-collar industries thrive and steer women to more pink-collar jobs, men who work in construction or in resource collection earn more overtime, more bonuses and even higher pay.

In 2011, nearly 91% of oil, mining and extraction workers in North Dakota were men. Still, the few women employed in the same fields earned an average of $46,301 less than men.

There’s more than meets the eye in judging gender pay inequity, researchers caution.

Among the 10 worst-paying states for women, five of those states actually pay women enough to rank among the 10 best for overall female income.

The reason those states end up on the 10 Worst list is due to the gender gap in pay in that state.

The 10 Worst states for male/female pay gap

The 10-worst paying states for women, saving the worst for last:

10. North Dakota

• Male full-time median annual income: $46,747
• Female full-time median annual income: $33,792
• Difference in pay: $12,955

9. West Virginia

• Male full-time median annual income: $43,869
• Female full-time median annual income: $30,632
• Difference in pay: $13,237

8. New Hampshire

• Male full-time median annual income: $55,216
• Female full-time median annual income: $41,953
• Difference in pay: $13,263

7. Virginia

• Male full-time median annual income: $55,256
• Female full-time median annual income: $41,797
• Difference in pay: $13,459

6. Massachusetts

• Male full-time median annual income: $61,226
• Female full-time median annual income: $47,302
• Difference in pay: $13,924

5. Washington

• Male full-time median annual income: $55,796
• Female full-time median annual income: $41,817
• Difference in pay: $13,979

4. Utah

• Male full-time median annual income: $49,146
• Female full-time median annual income: $34,052
• Difference in pay: $15,094

3. Louisiana

• Male full-time median annual income: $47,763
• Female full-time median annual income: $32,663
• Difference in pay: $15,130

2. Alaska

• Male full-time median annual income: $56,814
• Female full-time median annual income: $41,529
• Difference in pay: $15,285

1. Wyoming

• Male full-time median annual income: $53,536
• Female full-time median annual income: $35,698
• Difference in pay: $17,838

The post Top 10 states where women take home smaller paychecks than men appeared first on HR Daily Report.

That’s when the agreement that lowers Social Security payroll taxes expires.

Result: Social Security payroll tax rates for an estimated 163 million employees will return to 6.2%, 2% more than the 4.2% coming out of paychecks right now.

Social Security and Medicare costs are deducted directly from paychecks, along with state and federal taxes.

When people get their check or statement, they will see their take-home pay has gotten smaller but might not understand why.

Assure them there’s no conspiracy or government scheme behind this.

President Obama announced the payroll tax cut in 2011 — but also set an expiration date, so people wouldn’t believe it was permanent.

It’ll certainly confuse people who didn’t realize in the first place they were getting a significant tax break.

Of course, there’s always the possibility that Congress will act to extend the payroll tax cut.

But some experts say that’s an unlikely scenario.

Funding for Social Security needs to be made up, somehow. The only alternative at this time would be adding to the national debt in order to secure the funding.

Before they see it in paychecks

Now’s the time for HR managers and benefits managers to break the news to employees.

It’s not good news — they will see the difference in their paychecks.

But you’ll save yourself a lot of hassles and headaches by staying in front of this one.

Employees need time to plan how they will cope with receiving less in their paychecks — especially with the holidays approaching.

It’s difficult for HR managers to stay on top of any developments in an issue like this. Businesses that retain legal assistance can ask lawyers to monitor the situation.

Who knows? If the tax cut is extended, you’ll be able to give people good news.

The post Tell them now: It’s likely paychecks will shrink as of Jan. 1 appeared first on HR Daily Report.

Women who work hourly jobs face other challenges, like fluctuating schedules: 10 hours one week, 25 hours the next week, etc. There might be little consistency in the shifts or days of the week.

Schedules for lower wage jobs are posted on short notice, leaving little time to plan childcare or for other responsibilities.

This is more likely to happen to women than men, according to national surveys that show women have less of a voice in scheduling.

Tougher for women who head households

The burden of a low-wage job is much heavier for single women.

Many programs that used to provide a financial or social service safety net for women have seen drastic funding cuts, leaving single moms in a precarious position.

According to 2011 stats, 46.8% of households headed by single mothers who worked part-time jobs were poor.

Women with full-time jobs fared better: Only 8.9% of households headed by a woman working full-time were determined to be poor.

Meanwhile, many employers have found ways to squeeze the most out of both higher-income and lower-income women.

Specifically:

• Overemployment: Women who are in professional positions with fixed costs are more likely to be pushed harder by employers. One result is needing to work the equivalent of two jobs while being paid for one.
• Underemployment: Employers like to keep a large pool of low-wage workers available, and then schedule people to work minimal hours. This means inconsistent scheduling — like calling in or sending home workers as needed.

Both groups of women are pushed to make trade-offs.

Professional women are pressured to be on the job 24/7 if they want to keep moving up the ladder.

Hourly and lower-wage women are left in the position of being available to work anytime, on short notice — or risk losing their jobs.

And when women must put their careers or jobs on hold to attend to family matters, it’s often a serious threat to their earning power. This is much more likely to happen to women than men.

These problems took a long time to develop and obviously won’t be fixed overnight.

But at least one expert is calling for reforming and updating the Fair Labor Standards Act.

It’s probably time: After all, it was enacted in 1938.

The post Women at work: Time to update the FLSA? appeared first on HR Daily Report.

Forbes examined the annual income figures posted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and uncovered some rare gems — the most-surprising six-figure jobs. (To qualify, at least 10% of the people working in that profession had to make $100,000-plus a year.)

Here are a few, right off the bat:

• Home economics instructors: Those who teach at the college level average $68,080. But the Top 10% average $110,650.
• Art directors: Average salary is $95,5000; Top 10% average $166,620.
• Make-up artists, theatrical and performance: Average $63,719; Top 10% make an average of $120,050.
• Gaming managers: Average salary is $74,780; the high rollers collect $116,840. (It would appear some people consistently make money at gambling.)

The rest of the list:

• Technical writers
• Captains, mates and pilots of water vessels
• Transportation inspectors
• Broadcast news analysts
• Farmers, ranchers and other agricultural managers
• Insurance sales agents
• Education administrators, elementary and secondary schools
• Writers and authors
• Film and video editors
• Human resources managers
• Arbitrators, mediators and conciliators
• Multimedia artists and animators
• Elevator installers and repairers
• Loan officers
• Art, drama and music teacher, post-secondary
• Database administrators

The post Guess who’s making big bucks? 20 jobs you’d least expect appeared first on HR Daily Report.

If you don’t know how much time people spend waiting, it’s a good idea to find out now — especially if you’re paying them for the time they’re actually using the computer.

Not paying close enough attention to this cost one company $4.5 million.

In Bell v. Affiliated Computer Services, Inc. (a company owned by Xerox), an employee complained that the company’s failure to consider log-in time was costing people regular hourly pay and overtime.

These situations have become known as “off-the-clock” cases. They have stirred a lot of court action over the past several months — and many of the decisions have been costly for employers.

Federal regulations allow for a de minimus exception that allows employers off the hook time-wise and pay-wise for activities that take “insignificant periods of time outside scheduled working hours.”

One problem with that.

One employer’s de minimus might be another employer’s de maximus.

Courts haven’t set any standard amount of time that employers have before they need to put someone on the pay-clock.

The Supreme Court and certain circuit courts have upheld a range of margins from 7 to 10 minutes.

However, the federal regulations aren’t nearly so lenient: less than 5 minutes (total) each day.

Let’s face it: Not everyone has state-of-the-art equipment that lights up as soon as you hit the switch.

Some people — especially those who work in offices where equipment is used until dead — complain it takes so long to log in that the system must be running on squirrel power.

It might be a good opportunity to get a handle on how much time is spent waiting — and if people are being paid properly for it. It could potentially save your company a load of money.

The post A few minutes here and there cost company $4.5 million appeared first on HR Daily Report.

After all, who would turn down free money?

Surprise!

Employer matches aren’t as great of an incentive to convince people to sign up as you think they might be.

OK, if people won’t respond to the prospect of matching funds, what will it take to convinces employees to enroll in your 401(k) program?

It’s a lot easier and less flashier than you might think, according to a new Defined Contribution Investor Survey report.

The Investor Survey report targeted more than 1,000 employees with 401(k), 403(b), 457 and profit-sharing plan participants.

A simple, one-page document with step-by-step instructions (along with about how much time each should take) is far more appealing, employees report.

According to a Harvard prof charged with tracking these things, the one-page approach can increase enrollment in your company’s plan by as much as 45%.

Of course, don’t drop those 401(k) match pledges just yet.

Once employees have actually enrolled in the plan, they respond much more enthusiastically to the promise of matching funds, deciding at that point to increase their saving level.

The report discovered a lot about employees and how they prepare for retirement.

For instance:

• About 40% of people who responded said they were uncertain about the risks and returns on investments such as 401(k)s.
• 67% said they knew it was important to make adjustments in their investments over time — but only 30% said they knew how to do it.
• More than 80% said it’s critical to think about and plan for retirement — but only 28% said there were capable of doing it.

This information — or lack of it — could serve as a road map for Human Resources and Benefits managers seeking to encourage enrollment and activity in your company’s saving plans.

The post The best way to boost employee savings doesn’t cost a cent appeared first on HR Daily Report.

People who worked for the city of Scranton weren’t very happy when one of the solutions to the budget crunch was to reduce everyone’s wage — firefighters, police, garbage collectors and other government employees. (See You can’t do that — but they did, July 16.)

In addition to restoring municipal workers’ pay, the city has also pledged to give workers back pay, plus 6% interest.

Before you start asking what could possibly incite this budget turnaround, beware.

Local property taxes are slated to go up 33% over the next three years. The State of Pennsylvania is also loaning Scranton $2 million in no-interest funds.

Must be the price of progress.

Scranton’s not the only place where HR managers could find themselves in a comparably uncomfortable excitement.

It’s the fallout from lifeless housing markets and soaring pensions costs.

California municipalities like Stockton and San Bernardino have gone belly up due to similar financial problems.

The post Whew! City workers busted to minimum wage now back at usual rate appeared first on HR Daily Report.