Editor’s Note

In the past few years, various corporate regulations and lawmakers have been indorsing a growing number of local and global regulations that organizations need to obey. In the wake of intense level of regulatory scrutiny and ethical expectations, and given the financial and reputational damage that results from corporate scandals, compliance has moved up the corporate boardroom agenda. A legal risk management process plays a crucial role in ensuring that a company follows both local and international laws.

Legal and Compliance Excellence June 2015 Advertisers

White-Collar Jobs-Revisions: Overtime exemption for store managers is on the card

Revisions to the white-collar overtime exemptions are expected soon. The revisions are likely to increase the minimum salary required and may increase the percentage of time that must be spent performing exempt work. As a result, fewer managers will qualify for the executive exemption. In particular, some managers of retail and service establishments may not qualify as exempt once the revised regulations are finalized, either because their salaries are too low or because they don’t spend a sufficient percentage of time engaged in supervisory duties.

Paid vs. Unpaid Internship: What DOL says?

Summer is almost here and a lot of companies will start considering using summer interns. This can be a great learning experience for students who want to see what actually goes on behind the scenes of business before they graduate. Actually, interns are available to you all year, not just the summer, but the employer needs to know the rules established by the Department of Labor (DOL).

Travelling Within The Rules: How to keep business travellers safe?

Have you ever had an executive decline the flight bookings made for him by the company because he found a better deal online? With the popularity of do-it-yourself travel arrangements for leisure vacations, human resources managers are increasingly facing the challenges of dealing with a bargain-hunting business traveller.

Employment Policies: 11 policies you think are legal, but NLRB doesn’t

Employment policies and employee handbooks are a critical and effective way for employers to convey to employees the manner in which they should conduct themselves in the workplace. However, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) continues to make headlines with its increasing scrutiny and enforcement actions against policies deemed overbroad and restrictive of an employee’s right under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) to engage in protected concerted activities.

Employee Classification: Are you doing it right?

There have been a number of headlines lately about the Department of Labor (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) hiring auditors in droves to enforce the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) exempt status classification. In a post last month, the DOL WHD announced that they recovered over $270M in 2014 owed to more than 270,000 workers. That is a lot of cheddar.

Retaliation Claim: Is an oral complaint sufficient to demonstrate protected activity?

On April 20, 2015, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed a long-standing precedent when it held in Greathouse v. JHS Security Inc., that an internal oral complaint could be sufficient to demonstrate protected activity and form the basis for a retaliation claim under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). While this change altered over 20 years of precedent in the Second Circuit, it is consistent with how most other Circuits already interpret the FLSA retaliation provision.

Risks With Hiring Processes: Are you aware of what constitutes a compliant hiring process?

When it comes to a hiring process, attention is typically given to looking for creative ways to effectively recruit top talent for the organization and move them through interview and onboarding processes as soon as possible. What many companies overlook, however, is the importance of ensuring that the very same people who are in charge of recruiting, interviewing, and hiring are properly trained on what constitutes a legally compliant hiring process.

Independent Contractors: Beware of traps

Organizations are increasingly moving away from the traditional employee model and implementing independent contractor models for some aspects of their business to reduce their direct labor costs without sacrificing productivity, or efficiency. However, implementing an independent contractor model is not without risk and, given the current economic and political climate, independent contractor relationships have been facing and will continue to face increased scrutiny.