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Recent Articles from Kalen Fraser
New home health care rules
Most employers of home health care workers are aware of the labor law changes affecting their industry starting in January. Many of these employers, however, do not fully appreciate the adjustments they will have to make to their payroll and employment practices to comply with the new rules. Start...
Top 10 labor law compliance pitfalls
Employers, HR directors and payroll managers have a lot on their plate when it comes to compliance. It’s extremely difficult to stay up on all of the changes and details of a myriad of local, state, and federal employment compliance topics. While Wage and Hour investigations might not be as famil...
Why hotels are a DOL target
Hotels have been a specific target of the U.S. Department of Labor: Wage and Hour Division in Colorado in recent years. On a national level, hotels have a high rate of investigation by the Wage and Hour Division and they are frequently found in violation of overtime law due to a variety of unique...
Avoiding the back-pay double whammy
Historically, liquidated damages were only collected when the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) won a court settlement. Now, the WHD has begun assessing liquidated damages administratively along with back wages during a final conference with the employer. This year will probably see a giant leap in the...
Don’t wait for Labor to come knocking
The first question that employers ask when they find out that they will be investigated by the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division (WHD) is, “Why me?” The […]
Training time: To pay or not to pay?
Employers are often confused about training time and whether or not it must be paid. Training can take many forms including: new employee orientation, a weekly staff meeting, a yearly Las Vegas conference, a training webinar, a college course, etc. As a general rule training time must be paid. How...
Travel time 101
A common problem found in U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour investigations is the failure to pay for compensable travel or drive time. Significant overtime liability can result from […]
The “It’s tough to run a restaurant” department
As if running a restaurant wasn’t hard enough. Most restaurants contend with low profit margins, high competition, costly employee turnover, food inspections and increases in rent. One more thing to add to a restaurant owner’s worry list: U.S. Department of Labor (U.S. DOL) investigations. In fact...
Bosses, beware: The employee v. contractor trap
What if you didn’t have to pay employment tax, worker’s compensation, unemployment, payroll processing fees, and all the other costs of having employees? Sounds good, right? It’s a risky bet that many employers have taken in recent years – classifying all or some of their employees as independent...
Overtime: A big deal
Overtime is a big deal. According to data available on the U.S. DOL Data Enforcement website, employers in the U.S. have agreed to pay more than $2.2 billion dollars in […]
Are salespeople exempt from overtime?
“But I don’t have to pay overtime to my salespeople, right?” is a common question asked at Labor Brain presentations. Many employers assume that their salespeople are exempt from overtime. […]
