Connecticut Employment Law Blog Insight on Labor & Employment Developments for Connecticut Businesses

Tag Archives: work

Is Being On Time an Essential Function of Job? Second Circuit Says Most Times But Not Always

By Daniel Schwartz on Posted in Discrimination & Harassment, Highlight, Human Resources (HR) Compliance, Litigation, Manager & HR Pro’s Resource Center

I’m late / I’m late / For a very important date. / No time to say “Hello, Goodbye”. / I’m late, I’m late, I’m late. — White Rabbit, from “Alice in Wonderland” (1951) Let’s start with the premise, as the Second Circuit does, that “In many, if not most, employment contexts, a timely arrival is… Continue Reading

Why Don’t You Get Paid For Time Spent Traveling From Home To Office?

By Daniel Schwartz on Posted in Highlight, Human Resources (HR) Compliance, Manager & HR Pro’s Resource Center, Wage & Hour

From time to time, there are various questions that keep recurring in the labor & employment law area.  One of them is in the area of travel time for non-exempt employees. (For exempt employees, they get paid a fixed salary no matter how much time they work or travel.) The easiest question to answer is… Continue Reading

Court Bars Use of Fluctuating Work Week to Calculate Award in Overtime Case

By Daniel Schwartz on Posted in Class Actions, Highlight, Human Resources (HR) Compliance, Litigation, Wage & Hour

In prior posts, I’ve talked about the fluctuating work week and how it can be a useful tool for employers in limited circumstances.  Yesterday, a federal court in Connecticut had a very interesting ruling that addressed whether an employer — when faced with a suit for overtime by a group of convenience store employees (“clerks”,… Continue Reading

What Are My Favorite “Work” Songs On My iPod? Steve Jobs Knows.

By Daniel Schwartz on Posted in Featured, Highlight, Human Resources (HR) Compliance

I’ve been meaning to write a post about work songs since I started this blog.  (In fact, back in 2008, I noted that I would write about it in an upcoming post.  Three years later…) But it never felt important enough. Too frivolous. Just a simple post about songs. I was thinking about that again… Continue Reading

From the CBIA HR Conference: What Happens On Facebook May Not Stay on Facebook

By Daniel Schwartz on Posted in Human Resources (HR) Compliance, Social Media

We had a great turnout and reaction to the presentation yesterday at the CBIA Human Resources Conference in Rocky Hill. My thanks to all who sat in our packed room and the great questions that everyone asked. A few observations from the conference: The lines between work and personal activities continue to get blurred and… Continue Reading

Keeping an Eye on the Church Homes (Avery Heights) v. NLRB Case – Will the Supreme Court Grant Certiorari?

By Daniel Schwartz on Posted in Labor Law & NRLB, Litigation

UPDATED 6/16/09  While all eyes are on the Ricci v. DeStefano case now pending at the U.S. Supreme Court, another high-profile case from Connecticut may end up making its way to the court docket later this summer. The case is Church Homes (d/b/a Avery Heights) v. NLRB and dates all the way back to 1999 when… Continue Reading

The Blackberry Issue: How PDAs Can Create Serious Wage and Overtime Issues

By Daniel Schwartz on Posted in Human Resources (HR) Compliance, Wage & Hour

I love my Blackberry Bold. And I know many others that praise the virtues of an iPhone or other PDA device. But recently, questions have been raised about the use of these devices by non-exempt employees — in other words, those employees who are eligible to receive overtime.  If these employees are reviewing their messages outside of… Continue Reading

So Much for Telecommuting and Four-Day Work Weeks….

By Daniel Schwartz on Posted in Human Resources (HR) Compliance, Legislative Developments, Wage & Hour

Earlier this week, I discussed the state’s telecommuting practices amid requests from some politicians to expand the state’s telecommuting programs.  In perhaps a slow week for news, the Hartford Courant has continued to followup on its articles and expanded its coverage into discussing the possibility of four-day work weeks — something Utah is implementing. But both… Continue Reading

Legislative Update on 15 Year Old Workers, Workplace Bullying, and Other Labor Bills

By Daniel Schwartz on Posted in Legislative Developments

With one month to go in the shortened legislative session, there hasn’t been a lot of action on various labor & employment bills.  Many of the bills I highlighted in the last two months haven’t seen a lot of action or are still awaiting further votes.  This post will briefly summarize where some of the… Continue Reading

Court: Overtime Pay Must Be Paid to Employees Who Work Overtime, Even When Employer Prohibits Such Work and Does Not Desire It

By Daniel Schwartz on Posted in Litigation, Wage & Hour

The Second Circuit released an important decision today that sets forth some new groundrules for employers and particularly placement agencies to be aware of in paying employees overtime.  In doing so, the court has distinguished the long-standing Supreme Court case of Tennessee Coal Co. v. Muscoda Local No. 123 (321 U.S. 590) (1944) and, according to the Court’s… Continue Reading