Sobering Statistics
In a speech on November 5 to the Wimberly Lawson Employment Law Update Conference in Knoxville, TN, wage and hour specialist Carol Merchant offered some sobering wage and hour related statistics for small and mid sized business owners. Ms. Merchant worked for the U.S. DOL for 33 years, and co-wrote the national training manual for investigators on developing litigation cases. So she knows whereof she speaks, and business owners would do well to listen up. The New Landscape of Wage and Hour For instance, those 250 new DOL wage and hour investigators you’ve heard about? To put the number in perspective, this represents a 33% increase in the number of inspectors

Still Trying to Clean House in California
Back in 2007, I reported on the case of California Maid Services and Carpet Cleaning in Gardenia, California. They were the company that got socked for $3.5 million in back wages and $1 million in wage and hour penalties for misclassifying 385 of their workers as “independent contractors” when they were, in fact, employees. Well, OK, that and not paying overtime, not paying minimum wage and not keeping any timekeeping records at all (much less adequate records). Time for an update. In September of 2008, payment had apparently still not been made, so lawyers for the DOL filed for c

Minimum Wage Changes in Colorado
Interesting news out of Colorado… Seems that, come January 1, 2010, the state’s minimum wage will actually drop, from its current $7.28 an hour to $7.24 an hour. I’m told this is the first time minimum wage has decreased — in any state — since minimum wage was established in the USA back in 1938. Apparently, Colorado ties its minimum wage to inflation, same as something like nine other states. But unlike most other states, with a decrease in the cost of living, Colorado’s law allows a corresponding decrease in the minimum wage. Keep in mind, the federal minimum wage still stands at $7.25 an hour,

Griping versus “Filing”
From the Don’t Make Threats You Can’t Back Up Department comes the story of Kevin Kasten, former employee of Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics in Illinois. Apparently, Mr. Kasten had a problem clocking in and out. Because this was a required procedure, the company pursued disciplinary action against him in an attempt to encourage his compliance with their time and attendance policies. They followed what are pretty much textbook procedures: first an oral warning, then a written warning, then a suspension that included a written notice the suspension was his last chance and any further violations could result in termination. Unfortunately, none of this appa

Too Small for Time and Attendance?
It has come to my attention that some small business owners still don’t see the value of installing a time and attendance tracking system — despite all the evidence I’ve accumulated here demonstrating to the contrary. If you still need convincing… If you have any employees at all, tracking time and attendance is a good idea, for several reasons: Human nature. People tend to be more careful about how they spend their time when they know somebody else is watching. In survey after survey, a distressingly high number of employees admit to “time theft” (taking extra-