By:  Shauna N. Correia

Employers should be planning ahead for the January 1, 2014 implementation of the “Employer Shared Responsibility” provisions of the Affordable Care Act. That is because the average number of workers a company employed during 2013 will determine whether an employer is a “large employer,” and must offer minimum levels of health insurance to its employees, for 2014. The Internal Revenue Service has now issued a 144-page proposed rule and added a “Q&A” section to the IRS website (found here) geared toward explaining how it will decide whether an employer is required to offer affordable health insurance and what levels of coverage must be provided.Continue Reading IRS Gives Employers Guidance on the Employer Shared Responsibility Provisions of the Affordable Care Act

By:  Lizbeth V. West, Esq.

Effective September 1, 2012, employees in the City of Seattle are entitled to accrue paid sick and paid safe time (“PSST”) for use when an employee or family member needs to take time off from work due to illness or a critical safety issue, such as domestic violence.Continue Reading Attention Employers: If Your Employees Perform ANY Work in Seattle, They Are Entitled to “Paid Sick and Safe Time”

By: Lizbeth V. West, Esq.

The Ninth Circuit has referred the Peabody v. Time Warner Cable case to the California Supreme Court to answer this question.

Under the commissioned salesperson exemption, or the “inside sales exemption” in Wage Orders 4 and 7 (ONLY) an employee is exempt from overtime if his or her earnings: 1) exceed one and one-half times the minimum wage; and 2) more than half of the employee’s compensation represents commissions. Under California’s minimum hourly wage of $8.00, an inside sales commissioned employee must earn at least $12.00 per hour to qualify for the exemption. Continue Reading “Inside Sales Exemption” – Are Commissions Calculated When Earned or When Paid?

By:       Chuck Post

Because employers and employees have the right to reach agreement as to the terms, conditions and nature of the work, many employers believe that anything they can get an employee to agree to is legal and permissible. This notion can lead an employer into a violation of law. Some obligations, however, such as the obligation to pay overtime to non-exempt workers, the provision of worker’s compensation, and the obligation to provide a safe work environment (to name just a few) cannot be bargained away. An employee’s agreement to surrender these statutory protections is void, and can also constitute a violation of criminal law.Continue Reading Wage and Hour Refresher: Are You Committing a Misdemeanor?