July 24, 2008 marks another federal minimum wage change; the second in a three phase increase. Last July, the minimum wage increased to $5.85 per hour. On July 24th the minimum wage will increase again to $6.55 per hour. And next July, the minimum wage will rise, for the final scheduled increase, to $7.25 per […]

With an increasing number of workers in the uniformed services, employers need to be sure they are complying with all the requirements of military leave laws, including the Military Selective Service Act, the Veterans’ Reemployment Rights Act, and the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA). In addition, more and more states have recently […]

With most students out of school, or about to finish classes for the summer, now is the time many teenagers begin to look for summer work. Typically these workers find jobs in retail, in the restaurant and hospitality industry, at summer camps, and even in an administrative capacity. Whatever the role, when employing workers under […]

Moonlighting refers to holding multiple jobs with different companies and can have serious implications for the primary employer. Typically, employees holding two or more jobs suffer from fatigue, are more accident-prone, and are overall less productive; not to mention these employees tend to take more sick days and their attendance and punctuality often suffers. Other […]

Although there are no laws, state or federal, which require companies to have an employee handbook, there are state and federal laws requiring the presence of written employment policies. And if legal compliance isn’t incentive enough for having an employee handbook, there are other benefits as well. An employee handbook helps to explain the advantages […]

With the abundance of anti-discrimination laws and the growing number of disgruntled employees flooding the courts with EEOC charges, employers need to be extra cautious when making employment decisions. Even seemingly harmless employment actions may be construed as discriminatory if such decisions negatively affect a certain group of people. Intentions aside, in order to combat […]

These days employers need to be extra careful when making employment decisions. In today’s litigious society more and more disgruntled employees are claiming discrimination in situations where they may have been passed up for another candidate, they were fired for poor performance, or they weren’t promoted as quickly as they thought they should be. It’s […]

Unfortunately, in today’s society incidents of work-related violence are a stark reality. As the economy fluctuates, many companies are faced with the seemingly contradictory need to downsize while trying to meet productivity demands with fewer workers. With overworked employees, stress levels rise - and stress has been cited as one of the major contributors to […]

Just last week President Bush signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act which added provisions to the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) allowing for two new circumstances in which employees may take leave. Prior to the recent amendment, FMLA granted employees temporary (up to 12 weeks in a one year period) unpaid leave for […]