Compliance

Last July the Department of Labor (DOL) submitted proposed changes Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales and Computer Employees to the Federal Register. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) protects workers by mandating minimum wage be paid and any time worked over 40 hours in a workweek be paid at 150% of the worker’s hourly rate. If a worker falls into one of the exempt categories and meets the salary requirements, the employer is not required to pay overtime. The proposed rule sets the standard salary level at the 40th percentile of weekly earnings. This […]

One of the many hats Human Resource (HR) professionals wear is the Sherlock Holmes’ deerstalker. Knowing how and when to conduct workplace investigations is an essential function of HR departments. HR is required to respond when becoming aware of issues that require investigation. Determining whether an employee’s comment or complaint warrants an investigation is the first step. Often an issue can be resolved without launching a formal investigation. Clarifying the issue will reveal whether the investigator needs to speak with others to determine facts, which documents need to be reviewed and whether experts need to be contacted. A number of […]

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) cares about misclassification of employees as independent contractors and the Department of Labor (DOL) cares, too. These two agencies launched a massive “Misclassification Initiative” which created 100 new auditor jobs. The U.S. Government Accountability Office estimated employer misclassification resulted in $2.72 billion in lost government revenue in 2006. The majority of the loss was attributed to failure to pay income tax, and the balance was failure to pay Social Security, Medicare and unemployment taxes. The IRS estimates 80% of workers classified as independent contractors should be classified as employees. A Fact Sheet published by the […]

Warren Bennis said, “Managers do things right but leaders do the right thing,” when comparing the work of managers and leaders in 1989. Bennis’ comparison illustrated leaders determine what to do and managers get it done. Today, doing the right thing is more about ethics. Ethics represent our judgment about right and wrong. Managers and leaders are role models for all employees. Employees are aware of how business decisions are made and what happens to those who violate standards. Managers and leaders are always “on” since social media has eliminated private time. The Ethics Research Center (ERC) illustrates the benefits […]