According to the US Department of Labor, in the week ended December 6, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 573,000, an increase of 58,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 515,000. The 4-week moving average was 540,500, an increase of 14,250 from the previous week’s revised average of 526,250.
Do you know which employers must grant leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)? Are you sure about the benefits eligible employees must receive under the FMLA? Do you even know which employees are eligible for FMLA leave? These FMLA basics and highlights of the newly revised FMLA regulations are the topics of this month’s featured article by the HR Pros at MyHRSupportCenter. Don’t delay in becoming familiar with the revised regulations which also incorporate the Military Family Leave Amendments enacted earlier this year. The deadline to incorporate changes into policies, forms, handbooks, etc. in order to be in compliance with the revised regulations is January 16, 2009. To learn more, sign into MyHRSupportCenter and read this month’s featured article. If you’re not yet signed up or would like a free trial of MyHRSupportCenter, contact Vision Payroll today.
The US Department of Labor (DOL) recently issued non-Administrator signed Opinion Letter FLSA2008-12NA. Although Opinion Letters only apply to the exact set of facts and circumstances presented in each case, they are a valuable aid in understanding current interpretations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Unlike signed Opinion Letters, unsigned Opinion Letters do not “provide a potential good faith reliance defense for violations of the FLSA.”
This Opinion Letter discusses whether a company that employs dump truck drivers uses an overtime calculation method in compliance with the FLSA. The company pays each dump truck driver a commission equal to 27% of the gross revenue that the company receives for the materials delivered by that driver. The company pays overtime based on one-half of the commission divided by the hours worked times the number of hours worked in excess of forty in that week.
For example, assume a driver delivers material that produces $5000 of gross revenue for the company and works fifty-four hours in that workweek. The driver would be entitled to commission compensation of $1350 ($5000 X 27%). This would work out to a regular rate of pay of $25 per hour ($1350 ÷ 54 hours). The driver would also be entitled, therefore, to $175 of overtime compensation ($25 per hour X 14 hours (hours worked in excess of forty) ÷ 2 (overtime premium rate)).
The DOL confirmed that this method of computing overtime pay was proper under the FLSA.
State laws may provide rules that are more beneficial to the employee and must be followed. Contact Vision Payroll if you have questions about this Opinion Letter.
Thursday, December 25, 2008 will be Christmas Day, a federal holiday. The offices of Vision Payroll will close Christmas Eve, December 24 at 2 pm and re-open Friday December 26. Most banks will also be closed in observance of the holiday. Payrolls dated December 25 will be paid December 24 unless a previous change in schedule has been submitted. Payroll changes and hours must be submitted before the processing deadline on December 22. For payrolls dated December 26, payroll changes and hours must be submitted before the processing deadline on December 23. For payrolls dated December 29, payroll changes and hours must be submitted before the processing deadline on December 23. Payrolls submitted after these processing deadlines will be pushed back until the next available processing day. Due to heavy USPS and UPS delivery requirements as well as limited bank hours and staffing, we strongly recommend submitting payrolls during this time as early as practicable. UPS does not ship ground deliveries received on December 24 until December 26 so we do not recommend submitting payrolls on that date. No changes are required for payrolls dated December 30. Contact Vision Payroll as soon as possible to make changes to or for questions on your processing schedule.
The US Department of Labor recently issued non-Administrator signed Opinion Letter FLSA2008-11NA. Although Opinion Letters only apply to the exact set of facts and circumstances presented in each case, they are a valuable aid in understanding current interpretations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Unlike signed Opinion Letters, unsigned Opinion Letters do not “provide a potential good faith reliance defense for violations of the FLSA.”
This Opinion Letter discusses whether Adult Detention Officers may volunteer as Reserve Sheriff Deputies under the FLSA. According to the Opinion Letter “[p]ublic safety employees taking on any kind of security or safety function within the same local government are never considered to be employed in a different capacity.” Therefore, volunteering as deputy sheriffs in the same public agency is not allowed for detention officers under the FLSA. The detention officers may volunteer, however, “[i]f the two employers are not the same public agency”. Opinion Letters FLSA2006-28 and FLSA2006-21NA both discuss how to determine if two employers are the same agency.
State laws may provide rules that are more beneficial to the employee and must be followed. Contact Vision Payroll if you have questions about this Opinion Letter.
Nonfarm payroll employment fell sharply (-533,000) in November, and the unemployment rate rose from 6.5% to 6.7%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported recently. November’s drop in payroll employment followed declines of 403,000 in September and 320,000 in October, as revised. Job losses were large and widespread across the major industry sectors in November.
Both the number of unemployed persons (10.3 million) and the unemployment rate (6.7%) continued to increase in November. Since the start of the recession in December 2007, as recently announced by the National Bureau of Economic Research, the number of unemployed persons increased by 2.7 million, and the unemployment rate rose by 1.7 percentage points.
The unemployment rates for adult men (6.5%) and adult women (5.5%) continued to trend up in November. The unemployment rates for teenagers (20.4%), whites (6.1%), blacks (11.2%), and Hispanics (8.6%) showed little change over the month. The jobless rate for Asians was 4.8% in November, not seasonally adjusted.
Among the unemployed, the number of persons who lost their job and did not expect to be recalled to work increased by 298,000 to 4.7 million in November. Over the past 12 months, the size of this group has increased by 2.0 million.
The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was little changed at 2.2 million in November, but was up by 822,000 over the past 12 months.
This week’s question comes from Janet, a sales rep: I read before that the wage base for 2008 was $102,000. I’ve made over $104,000, but FICA tax is still being withheld. Why didn’t my FICA tax deduction stop? Answer: Even though your gross wages are over $104,000, the FICA tax deduction doesn’t stop until FICA taxable wages reach $102,000 and FICA tax withheld reaches $6,324. Some wage deductions such as cafeteria or §125 plan deductions reduce the amount of FICA taxable wages. So, even though your gross earnings are over $102,000, FICA tax must be withheld until the maximum withholding is reached. Contact Vision Payroll if you have any questions on the Social Security wage base.
According to the US Department of Labor, in the week ended November 29, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 509,000, a decrease of 21,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 530,000. The 4-week moving average was 524,500, an increase of 6,250 from the previous week’s revised average of 518,250.
Are you planning an end-of year bonus payroll for employees? With only four weeks left in 2008, now is the time to schedule any additional payrolls you need. Many employers like to distribute bonus checks at a firm party or get-together. If the bonus checks are included with a regular pay run, the year-to-date amounts on the employees’ stubs will reflect the bonus. To keep the bonus amounts off the pay stubs, schedule an additional payroll dated after your last payroll before the party or other event where you will distribute the bonuses. Remember to allow at least two days after the day you plan to transmit bonus amounts for the payroll to be processed and shipped. By scheduling bonuses early, Vision Payroll can work with you to help ensure that your bonus checks arrive on time.
The US Department of Labor recently issued Administrator signed Opinion Letter FLSA2008-9. Although Opinion Letters only apply to the exact set of facts and circumstances presented in each case, they are a valuable aid in understanding current interpretations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). This Opinion Letter discusses whether instructors in a cosmetology school are teachers who qualify for the professional exemption of the FLSA.
The instructors in the instant case are licensed cosmetologists in addition to being licensed as instructors by their State Board of Cosmetology. The school is licensed by that board and accredited by the National Accrediting Commission of Cosmetology Arts and Sciences. This accreditation qualifies the school as an “educational establishment”. Although the instructors do not have teaching certificates, their primary duty is “teaching and instructing students in cosmetology theory, as well as in the practical part of the curriculum.” This means that the instructors are “teachers of skilled or semi-skilled trades and occupations.” Therefore, the instructors qualify under the professional exemption of the FLSA.
State laws may provide rules that are more beneficial to the employee and must be followed. Contact Vision Payroll if you have questions about this Opinion Letter.
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