Articles tagged 'Compensation'

Recruiting and Staffing

Jerking Around Candidates on Salary? Hell of a Way to Start a Relationship

by on Jun 19, 2013, 8:08 AM  |  No comments yet
© Rudie - Fotolia.com

Quick — what’s the question most job candidates hate to hear coming?

How about “What are your salary expectations?”

Receiving a job offer with a fabulous salary is great. Having to negotiate said salary is a little less so.

But worse than either of these two is being asked about salary waaaaaay early in the recruiting process (like during the initial phone screening) without knowing much of anything about the job duties, job requirements, work environment, or company benefits and perks. Read more…

Twitter Facebook LinkedIn

Benefits, Talent Management

The Challenges You Face When Giving a Job Title Instead of Pay

by on Jun 14, 2013, 7:00 AM  |  No comments yet
job-titles

Job titles are frequently seen as cheap alternatives to real compensation.

Every HR executive knows that many a challenge can be prevented with the proper timely endowment of a fancier title. The reality, of course, is that awarding a new job title as a form of compensation in lieu of cash can create new and different problems:

  • A promotional increase is demanded;
  • The wrong messages are sent
  • Discrimination claims result; Read more…
Twitter Facebook LinkedIn

HR News & Trends, Legal Issues

Court Ruling May Make You Rethink Taking on Unpaid Interns

by on Jun 13, 2013, 7:00 AM  |  2 Comments
intern

By John E. Thompson

We have repeatedly cautioned that employers who are prepared to take on unpaid interns should enter into these arrangements with their eyes fully open.

New developments emphasize this yet again.

The Fox Searchlight litigation

We reported in March 2012 that Fox Searchlight Pictures had been sued under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and New York law by unpaid interns who were claiming to be due wages and other sums. The court has now ruled this week, in Glatt v. Fox Searchlight, that at least two of these individuals were indeed “employees” for purposes of the FLSA and state law. Read more…

Twitter Facebook LinkedIn

HR Basics, Legal Issues

Pay Practice Myths? They Can Leave You With a Big FLSA Problem

by on Jun 7, 2013, 11:27 AM  |  No comments yet
overpayment

By John E. Thompson

There has always been a great deal of mistaken conventional wisdom afoot where the federal Fair Labor Standards Act is concerned.

We have blogged previously about the common misconception that one pay practice or another has just got to be lawful, because “everybody does it” that way.

But this is by no means the only one. Among others that continue to crop up all-too-often are: Read more…

Twitter Facebook LinkedIn

Benefits, Compensation

Which Comes First, the Pay or the Performance?

by on May 22, 2013, 8:10 AM  |  No comments yet
123RF Stock Photo

It’s an age-old negotiation. Pay me more and I will perform. Perform better and I will pay you.

So what comes first, the payment or the performance?

Hay Group’s Annual CEO Compensation Survey was released last week. The results show for only the second time in the history of the study, long-term performance plans were the most heavily-weighted aspect (31 percent) of the entire pay portfolio.

Was this a result of executive pay programs that have been re-geared with performance metrics since the advent of Say on Pay? Was this the result of CEOs performing better as more attention has been paid to their actions and behaviors? Or, was this caused by something else? Read more…

Twitter Facebook LinkedIn

HR News & Trends, Legal Issues

House Passes Bill to Allow Employees to Swap OT For Comp Time

by on May 10, 2013, 8:35 AM  |  1 comment
Comp time

By Eric B. Meyer

Earlier this week, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 223-204 to pass the Working Families Flexibility Act of 2013, which would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act to permit employers to provide compensatory time off in lieu of monetary compensation for overtime hours worked.

Presently, through the Federal Employees Flexible and Compressed Work Schedules Act, only state and federal employees may receive comp time in lieu of overtime (OT). Read more…

Twitter Facebook LinkedIn

Benefits, Compensation

Even Monkeys Demand Equal Pay For Equal Work

by on May 3, 2013, 10:20 AM  |  No comments yet
Photo by istockphoto.com

By Lorene Schaefer

In 1925, the famed Scopes Monkey Trial occurred in Tennessee. The public feverishly debated whether evolution contradicted certain religious teachings and whether humans, viewed by many to be a superior lot, could be related in any respect to monkeys.

A recent video on monkey behavior (and, perhaps, human psychology?) is certainly telling.

Briefly, two monkeys are given the same job, but are rewarded differently. The slighted monkey receives watery cucumbers rather than juicy grapes like his co-worker-monkey does for the same work. The reaction of the slighted monkey is priceless!

Here’s the video: Read more…

Twitter Facebook LinkedIn

HR News & Trends, Legal Issues

Be Careful What You Wish For: Congress May Allow “Comp Time”

by on Apr 29, 2013, 9:12 AM  |  No comments yet
Comp time

By Ted Boehm

The U.S. House of Representatives will consider amending the federal Fair Labor Standards Act to permit private-sector employers to offer compensatory time off in lieu of monetary overtime compensation.

The fast-tracked Working Families Flexibility Act of 2013 (H.R. 1406) was approved by a House committee only eight days after its introduction.

Under the proposal, eligible non-union employees could agree to a comp-time arrangement “in writing or [in an] otherwise verifiable record.” The policy could be implemented for eligible unionized employees via a collective bargaining agreement. Participating employees would then receive at least 1.5 hours of comp time for each overtime hour worked. Read more…

Twitter Facebook LinkedIn

Classic TLNT

The Unpaid Internship Dilemma: Everyone Loses in This Crackdown

by on Apr 26, 2013, 9:10 AM  |  No comments yet
The Labor Department crackdown on interns will cause issues for managers and HR departments. (Photo by istockphoto.com)

Editor’s Note: Sometimes, readers ask about past TLNT articles they may have missed. That’s why on Fridays we republish a Classic TLNT post some of you have asked about.

Pardon me while I shed a few tears for the end of college internships as we have known them.

The recent post here on TLNT by labor attorney Patti Weisberg of Walter & Haverfield couldn’t have been clearer: “If your company offers unpaid internships to students, take heed, (because) the U.S. Department of Labor has begun to crack down on employers that do not pay interns or do not pay them properly.”

Okay, I get that. People deserve to get paid for the work they do. However, I’m still troubled by the crackdown on unpaid internships because it threatens to kill a time-honored tradition that helped me, and many others, as we were trying to launch our careers. Read more…

Twitter Facebook LinkedIn

HR News & Trends, Legal Issues

Four Ways to Successfully Defend a Claim Under the Equal Pay Act

by on Apr 15, 2013, 10:30 AM  |  Comments Off
Equal_Pay_2-20-12

By Eric B. Meyer

In the 2 1/2 years of writing this blog, I’ve never had a post on the Equal Pay Act  – until now.

The Equal Pay Act requires equal pay for equal work on jobs the performance of which require equal skill, effort, and responsibility, and which are performed under similar working conditions. Any wage discrimination on the basis of sex violates the Act.

The EEOC celebrated “Equal Pay Day” last week. So, now is as good a time as any to address the Act through this recent case from the Third U.S. Circuit Circuit Court of Appeals. Read more…

Twitter Facebook LinkedIn