Employment Law Forums

GINA Poster - Separate Offense?

2009-11-12T11:46:27Z

Does anyone know what constitutes a separate offense for failure to comply with the requirement to post the new EEOC poster in a conspicuous location (Nov. 21, 2009)? Is the statutory penalty assessed for each employer site that fails to comply a single time, or can the penalty continue to accrue based on failure to comply?

Jonathan F. Cohen, Esq.
APRUZZESE, McDERMOTT,
MASTRO & MURPHY, P.C.
Somerset Hills Corporate Center
25 Independence Boulevard
P.O. Box 112
Liberty Corner, NJ 07938
Tele: (908) 580-1776
Fax: (908) 647-1492
email: cohen at ammm dot com
website: http://www.ammm.com

on-boarding

2009-09-24T13:43:46Z

I have been researching various Hr software packages and notice that several have an On-boarding features that allows the new employer to complete task such as filling out w-4, I-9, insurance and sexual harassment training prior to their first day of work. My question should these task be paid? My guess would be that some of these task, such as sexual harassment training are for the benefit of the company and should be. Has any one come across any rulings on this? I would think that if putting on safety equipment for the job has to be paid, so should some of these task.

Federal W&H Lawsuit for Max $3K in back wages

2009-05-25T17:06:15Z

Why would a plaintiff attorney file a W&H lawsuit for what would result in a maximum of $3,000 in unpaid overtime?

Former employee was fired after 15 months of service for stealing cash receipts - caught red handed with the money.

Was an exempt assisant manager. Even if he can prove that he was misclassified and should have been non-exempt, the max of unpaid overtime would be about $3K as the client uses the flexible work week method for calculating overtime.

This does not pass my common sense test and is beyond being frivilous.

Never mind the common sense test comment - I should not be surprised as I have been doing this stuff for a long time.

401k fees

2009-09-16T15:11:35Z

I am looking to change my 401k provider. I have a new benefits broker and they are recommending the change. However I have concerns that the new 401k provider is charging the employee’s higher fees. The new investments are currently performing better then the current investment, so for right now the employee should benefit. My concern is that investment perfomance today is not what it will be in the future and because of the higher fees, it will cost my employees. I not sure if I am doing my due diligence of operating the plan to the best benefit of my employees by switching to a plan that charge higher fees. I have seen a lot of law suits regarding fees and lack of due diligence and I am kind of worry. Should I be?

Provisional Employees after City of Long Beach

2009-09-17T21:43:27Z

I wanted to find out if there are any rights besides ‘name clearing’ hearing at the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings that provisional employees can invoke to receive contractual disciplinary due process. I did some digging and found a legislative bill 6495 signed into law by Spitzer after City of Long Beach, which indicates that given the unique nature of NYC, temporary disciplinary rights will remain in force for provisional employees during the 5 year period where DCAS will implement more examinations so that these individuals could obtain permanent Civil Service status. Did I miss something? Looking for input.

Thank You.

FLSA Question: Invalidating a Belo Agreement?

2009-08-31T18:30:47Z

I ran into an interesting wage and hour question. The client wants to know if paying per-case bonuses or quarterly bonuses based on work accomplished (non-discretionary) would violate an employee’s ‘Belo’ agreement.

If employees are covered under a ‘Belo’ agreement, 29 C.F.R. 778.408(d) states that “the payment of compensation, over and above the guaranteed amount…year-end bonuses and similar payments which are not regularly paid as part of the employee’s usual wages, will not invalidate a contract which otherwise qualifies under section 7(f).”

It also says in the regulation in subpart (c) that payment of regular bonuses should be included in the regular rate used in the Belo agreement.

Thus, if an employer pays employees under a Belo agreement a non-discretionary, quarterly, bonus, in addition to the rate in the agreement, do folks on here think that the Belo agreements may become invalidated?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Jonathan F. Cohen, Esq.
APRUZZESE, McDERMOTT,
MASTRO & MURPHY,
P.C.
Somerset Hills Corporate Center
25 Independence Boulevard
P.O. Box 112
Liberty Corner, NJ 07938
Tele: (908) 580-1776
Fax: (908) 647-1492
email: cohen at ammm dot com

Involuntary Termination under COBRA - ARRA, Anyone?

2009-03-13T10:35:55Z

Numerous clients have now asked me whether an involuntary reduction in hours, as a result of a RIF or otherwise, which causes an employee to lose his or her health benefits, constitutes an involuntary termination under the ARRA in order to qualify the employee as an Assistance Eligible Individual (AEI) for the subsidy.

According to the local Employee Benefits Security Administration representative that I spoke with this afternoon, employees that accepted Per Diem positions as the result of a RIF are ineligible for the subsidized COBRA premium assistance program because they have not actually “lost their job” and are not “between jobs”.

As an attorney, I am dissatisfied because I can’t find anything in writing, or in the law, that would confirm that individuals whose job status is changed or cut back involuntarily are ineligible for the subsidy. We all know that a reduction in hours is a qualifying event under COBRA, however, it is not mentioned in the ARRA. That said, if it were me, I would probably rather be fired and get the 35% subsidy than have my hours reduced and have to pay the full premium.

Does anyone know anything concrete?

Jonathan F. Cohen, Esq.
APRUZZESE, McDERMOTT,
MASTRO & MURPHY,P.C.
Somerset Hills Corporate Center
25 Independence Boulevard
P.O. Box 112
Liberty Corner, NJ 07938
Tele: (908) 580-1776
Fax: (908) 647-1492
email: cohen at ammm dot com

Harassment Training

2008-03-05T10:07:21Z

We are considering Harassment Training for our mgt. and supervisory team. Besides having an attorney perform the training, are there any other options? I don’t want to show a video, but want the sessions to be “interactive” so questions and scenarios can be discussed. Thanks.

J1 visas

2009-05-15T13:57:34Z

Can we offer someone an internship if we are not the sponsor for the J1 visa? Can we employ them for the summer as a temp?

Requests for FLSA review from staff member

2009-04-29T14:38:38Z

I have an employee who has requested information on how we have deetermined the FLSA status for several positions in our company. Aside from raising the obvious eyebrows, the positions do not report to him nor is his amongst the listt he’s requested clarification. Of course this is a small unti of our business so there’s lots of chatter. Is there any requirement for us to disclose FLSA reasoning to a staff member if it is not their job or one of their report’s?

Thanks