Workforce Bulletin

Preparing the terms of employee compensation can be a resource-intensive task requiring input from stakeholders across numerous departments, including human resources, finance, and legal. However, as the Massachusetts Appeals Court’s recent decision in Alfieri v. Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Inc. demonstrates, investing those resources to complete the task will pay dividends when an employer is faced with a potentially costly claim for unpaid wages.

Background

In May 2014, Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Inc. sent Michael Alfieri a letter offering him the position of ...

A critical component of a successful employer-employee relationship is the employer’s fair and equitable treatment of employees, often embodied in the employer’s employee engagement, retention, and compensation practices.  When it comes to compensation, U.S. employers must comply with federal and applicable state equal pay laws that prohibit discriminatory pay practices, and a myriad of state and local laws banning inquiries into, or the use of, prior salary history in setting pay.  Yet, compensation bias and discrimination still exist and continue to be the subject of ...

In a matter of weeks, COVID-19 has changed the workplace.  Travel restrictions, shelter-in-place orders, and mandatory closures have meant that it is far from business as usual for nearly all employers.  The unprecedented events of the last few weeks have forced many employers, facing major business disruptions or closures, to make tough decisions about hiring, layoffs, furloughs, and compensation.

Some of these employment decisions may implicate written employment contracts and collective bargaining agreements that contain “force majeure” clauses that excuse ...

Given the number of states that have already ordered the closure of non-essential businesses due to the COVID-19 pandemic, employers fortunate to remain operational are likely dealing with the myriad challenges of a remote workforce.

As we previously wrote here, employers with work-from-home (“WFH”) policies in place need to make sure they are appropriately compensating their workers and are otherwise complying with all applicable federal, state, and local wage and hour laws.

In the WFH context, the related wage and hour concepts of “waiting time” and “on-call ...

On February 28, 2017, the California Court of Appeal issued its opinion in Vaquero v. Stoneledge Furniture, LLC. The opinion provides guidance to California employers who pay their hourly employees on a commission basis but do not pay separate compensation for time spent during rest periods.

In the case, the employer kept track of hours worked and paid hourly sales associates on a commission basis where, if an employee failed to earn a minimum amount in commissions – comprising of at least $12.01 per hour in commission pay in any pay period – then the employee was paid a “draw” ...

In the lifecycle of a start-up company, there are many key issues, situations and milestones when it is important to seek legal consultation. Epstein Becker Green has developed an easy to follow guide to highlight common workforce management issues (including employment, benefits and immigration concerns) start-up employers must consider as they grow their business and application of important laws which are triggered by employee count.

The Workforce Guide outlines critical areas such as:

• Onboarding and compensation;
• Managing existing workforce;
• Separation; and
• Statutory ...

In Holaway v. Stratasys, Inc., the plaintiff was employed as a field service engineer and classified as exempt from the FLSA’s overtime requirements.  Based on that classification, the plaintiff’s employer did not keep records of his hours worked.

After being discharged, the plaintiff filed lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota claiming he was non-exempt, seeking overtime wages and alleging that he worked sixty hours per week every week of his employment.  The District Court concluded that the plaintiff failed to produce sufficient evidence to show he ...

by Lauri F. Rasnick

FINRA is contemplating a new rule that would require brokers transferring firms to inform clients about their signing bonuses or other compensation they are receiving in connection with their moves.  The potential rule, which is now out for public comment, is being considered to protect customers.   By mandating disclosure of the money offered in connection with a move, the client can consider the true motivation behind the move and whether it is in the client’s best interest to transfer all of his or her business.  Indeed, many firms luring over brokers offer ...