Over the last few weeks, I’ve been seeing more tweets from human resources types and mainstream reporters using the phrase “wage theft”.  Two recent examples? William Tincup (who runs the popular online DriveThruHR show that I appeared on a while ago) recently tweeted:

And The New York Times labor reporter, Steven Greenhouse yesterday tweeted:

Yes, even The New York Times Editorial Board is beginning to use the term with surprising carelessness suggesting “law enforcement officials” (a term typically reserved for police officers, not Department of Labor officials) routinely use it.

It’s time for employers to beware this phrase and fight its usage because, in my view, it’s really an attempt to turn something often unintentional, into something nefarious and intentional.

Or as Mandy Patinkin’s character in The Princess Bride said: You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

What DO I mean? Well, think of the word, “theft” and most of us think of the intentional taking of something that belongs to someone else. Like your jewelry, or your iPhone. Even your company’s trade secrets.Continue Reading “Wage Theft”: The Trendy Phrase That May Not Mean What You Think It Means

Yesterday, I discussed the carryover rule that requires employers to allow service workers to carry over up to five days of paid sick leave each year.

Not All Issues in Paid Sick Leave Law are Clear

But a loyal blog reader posed the following question to me: Suppose you are

Heard of the popular show, "A Minute to Win It"? Well to borrow from the title, for health care professionals (doctors offices and hospitals in particular), you’re playing a much more dangerous game "a Minute to Lose It".

What is "it"? It is patient data.  And right now it continues to be at risk every

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One of the great mysteries in the employment law arena is what is "gross misconduct" under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA)

A provocative article published in the latest "The Labor Lawyer" (a publication of the American Bar Association)  answers that question by providing a fairly thorough summary of how courts

I don’t think it’s going out on a limb to suggest that 2009 brings about some of the broadest changes to employment laws in the United States this decade.  Socopyright Dan Schwartz, creative commons licenseme changes are already known, while others are forecasted to occur.  

Michael Moore, over at the Pennsylvania Labor & Employment Blog, has an excellent

The Connecticut Attorney General’s Office quietly filed suit this week in Connecticut State Court(download here) against American Future Systems, which does business under the name of Progressive Business Publications (and also Progressive Business Compliance).   You won’t find a press release about it on Attorney General Richard Blumenthal’s website.  Back in March, I had reported