Employees in a restaurant setting often receive tips, and employers frequently take a "tip credit" toward the minimum wage they must pay. "Tip pooling" is another common practice, where all of the tips are collected and then evenly distributed among the restaurant's employees. If employers choose to implement a tip pool or tip credit, however, they must keep the following guidelines in mind to make sure their policy complies with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

Sadly, in the past 12 months, I have been hired to investigate or assist in investigating employee embezzlement more times than in the past 15 years combined. Embezzlement is the theft or misappropriation of funds or property placed in one’s trust, belonging to one’s employer. Employee theft costs are on the rise, and they are getting more sophisticated in their methods. They justify their actions by saying they aren’t hurting anyone.

Question: We have an employee who has been out on workers' compensation for over a year now. Because he hasn’t worked for so long, is he still eligible to participate in our group benefits plan?

It isn’t any secret that businesses are having increasing difficulty hiring employees and are looking for creative ways to encourage people to apply for and accept jobs. But could a sign-on bonus create liability under the Massachusetts Equal Pay Act? Yes, if you aren’t careful.

California’s labor commissioner and courts have historically been harsh in evaluating whether an employer’s failure to pay wages was willful, a finding often yielding a penalty far higher than the amount of money owed. If it turned out in retrospect that wages were due and you failed to pay them, it was considered willful even if you believed the wages weren’t owed in the first place. A recent federal court of appeal decision cast a new light on the issue by affirming a trial judge who dismissed the penalty claim and found no willful violation existed.

Governor Jay Inslee recently signed Engrossed Substitute House Bill (ESHB) 2076 into law, making Washington the first state to require minimum per-trip payments, paid sick leave, and workers’ compensation benefits for rideshare drivers. The law also provides drivers will remain classified as independent contractors—not employees—and expressly forbids local governments from imposing new regulations on transportation network companies.

In March, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) issued guidance on forms of prohibited retaliation under various laws the agency enforces, including the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), immigration visa programs, and other laws and executive orders. The new guidance suggests the agency will focus on retaliation as an enforcement priority in the upcoming year. It will be all the more important for employers to keep an eye out for protected activity and to tread carefully before taking adverse employment action.