compensation Archives - THE TIMESHEETS.COM JOURNAL

HR Resources and Tools for Small Businesses – Do It Yourself HR

Contributed by Sophia Conti

Many small businesses run on the bare essentials. Often, those essentials do not include streamlined and well-planned human resources functions. Even larger businesses fail to establish HR protocols and standard operating procedures. Many believe that HR is too expensive to implement for the minimal purpose it will serve. This may be true for some of the more expensive HR solutions but many HR resources are inexpensive. It helps to understand what human resources can accomplish and how it can benefit the company.

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Partial Unemployment Benefits for Hour and Pay Cuts

Published by Peggy Emch

Most people probably aren’t even aware that a thing such as partial unemployment benefits even exists. Did you know that you can receive benefits even if you’re still working? In fact, unemployment insurance (UI) benefits aren’t so black and white – lose your job, get assistance. There are benefits available for employees who received hour cuts or pay decreases. As a business owner, you should know this.

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Is It Legal to Give an Employee a Pay Cut

Published by Peggy Emch

Reducing an employee’s pay is no minor thing. A pay cut can be anything from illegal, financially troubling, emotionally unsettling, to devastating. Before cutting an employee’s pay, employers should consider the effects. Sometimes the repercussions aren’t worth it.

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Do You Have to Pay Employees for Unapproved Overtime?

Published by Peggy Emch

Many employers simply outline in the employee handbook that unauthorized overtime is not allowed.

The stipulation might read something like this: We do not pay for unauthorized overtime. Approval must be obtained prior to starting any work over 40 hours. If overtime is not approved, it is not our responsibility to pay time and a half.

But watch out if you have a rule like this in your employee handbook! Just because it’s in the book doesn’t mean it’s valid.

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On Call Time – Paid Or Unpaid

Published by Peggy Emch

When we wait around for something to happen – waiting for someone to show up, standing in a long line, counting down the minutes till we leave for an appointment, or being on call – we seem to do a little less with our time than we otherwise would. It’s like we can’t get too involved because our activity might get cut short.

Waiting can be annoying, but being on call can interfere with life in a more serious way. If half your week’s schedule is on call, as is the case in many retail environments these days, it can be very hard to move forward or make plans.

The Last Paycheck – When Terminated Employees Need to Be Paid

Published by Peggy Emch

The exact date at which employees need to receive their final paycheck upon termination is a mystery to many small business owners. The fact that there are laws surrounding the issue at all vexes many who are responsible for paying employees. And it’s not surprising. State laws are complicated and the fed has no laws about it at all.

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Business Math: Paying Employees a Living Wage

Published by Peggy Emch

With all the talk about raising the Federal minimum wage to $10.10 per hour, business owners are thinking about living wages and how to ensure that they are paying their employees enough money to satisfy their basic needs.

Coming up with a blanket “living wage” might be a good start for helping lift millions of Americans out of poverty, but I think it’s worth noting that a living wage is personal and will vary from person to person.

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Exempt Employee Pay Deductions – What Is Permitted?

Published by Peggy Emch

In general, employers cannot deduct pay from an exempt employee’s paycheck. The amount of money an exempt employee makes is not based on the number of hours she does or doesn’t work.

An exempt employee must receive the full salary for any workweek in which the employee performs any work, regardless of the number of days or hours worked. There are a few exceptions to this rule, however.

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Vacation Payout in California is Mandatory but Offering Vacation Isn’t

Published by Peggy Emch

This might sound contradictory at first. Why would you have to pay out vacation if you don’t even have to offer vacation to begin with?

Well, if you choose to offer vacation, you have to follow some rules. You don’t actually have to offer vacation in California at all if you don’t want to (although, it is a perk that employees find desirable so maybe you should!) but if you do decide to implement some vacation benefits, you’ve got to stick to it till the end.

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How To Know When On-Call Employees Should Be Paid

Published by Peggy Emch

On-call employees are a big benefit to many companies. They help ensure that the business is covered while keeping costs down. On-call employees generally cost little to nothing. But how much exactly should they be paid? The answer is, it depends.

2 Comments

Paying Employees After Natural Disasters

Published by Peggy Emch

Hurricane Sandy displaced up to 40,000 people from their homes and affected great numbers of small business owners and their employees. Many of these businesses will shut down for few days or weeks due to power outages and cleanup.

1 Comment

Should Employees Get Paid For Missing Work In Bad Weather?

Published by Peggy Emch

This week across the country, 16 below zero temperatures, ice storms, and blizzards are shutting down schools and businesses. Thousands of employees are missing work and wondering if they’ll be getting paid while building snowmen and drinking hot chocolate.

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Tag: compensation