Most employers find that paying workers through direct deposit is far simpler and easier than paying via check. But can employers force employees to accept direct deposit? Well, not exactly. According to the Department of Labor, you can’t refuse to pay people by check if they really, truly insist on a check. However, you can make direct deposit standard practice, and you can force people who don’t like it to “opt out”…as opposed to inviting people

Many restaurants and other businesses automatically add a tip to the bill for groups over a certain size. But that’s likely to change in 2014, thanks to a new decision from the IRS. As of January 1, 2014, these automatic tips must be treated as “wages,” subject to payroll tax withholding. This will mean much more paperwork for the businesses (not to mention making the waiters and other servers unhappy). Darden Restaurants, which owns the Olive

Here’s a complicated wrinkle for businesses that have employees who are in a same-sex marriage. The question is whether these employees are “married” for purposes of the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, such that they’re eligible to take time off to care for a spouse. Previously, the IRS has ruled that employees are “married” for purposes of employee benefit plans if same-sex marriage is legal in the state where the marriage occurred. But now, the

If an employee is going to be working in hazardous conditions, does the employer merely have to provide appropriate safety equipment … or does it have to actually force the employee to use it? The latter, according to the OSHA Review Commission. The case involved a marine contractor in Florida that was renovating a boat ramp. An employee of the contractor was observed using a jackhammer on concrete without wearing goggles or earplugs.

Many contracts that a business will sign with a software vendor (or any other professional service provider relating to software) involve sharing detailed business or customer data. This is especially true with any type of cloud computing service. Before you sign a contract, ask yourself these questions: What can the provider use my data for? Obviously, a vendor needs to be able to use your data to provide you with the contracted services. But many standard

A commercial landlord who leased space for a restaurant and a liquor store can be held liable in court if the premises aren’t accessible to the disabled – even though the lease said that disability access was completely the responsibility of the tenant. That’s the word from a federal court in California. The case is a warning to commercial landlords that they need to be proactive and make sure that tenants are fulfilling their responsibilities under

About 85% of American companies have a written policy that limits workers’ use of cell phones while driving. The goal is to improve employee safety, while also preventing lawsuits from people who are injured by distracted employees. That’s great – but many of these policies were adopted several years ago, and need to be reviewed now because the legal landscape has changed. Here are some of the problems with many older policies: ► They’re not inclusive