Policies & Procedures - HospitalityLawyer.com®

Employment Taxes: A Look at Changing Enforcement Patterns

by James Malone in Human Resources, Legal. Posted March 23, 2017

Roughly seventy percent of the federal government’s revenues come from employment taxes, including FICA and income taxes withheld from employees’ wages. Consequently, threats to that source are taken quite seriously. All employers need to be aware of the significant changes in employment tax enforcement that have increased the risks faced by the non-compliant. Traditional Employment ...

How ‘Ban-the-Box’ Ordinances Complicate Hiring at Hotels

by Elliott Mest in Human Resources, Legal. Posted March 8, 2017

Beginning Jan. 22, Los Angeles enacted the Fair Chance Ordinance, a so-called “ban-the-box” law that prevents employers from investigating the criminal histories of potential employees before submitting a conditional offer of employment. The goal of the law is to evaluate potential employees without acknowledging criminal history, but it also complicates the employment process. Michelle Sumner, ...

Establishing “Workweeks” For Exempt Employees

by John Thompson in Human Resources, Legal. Posted January 4, 2017

We have written previously about how important the “workweek” concept is in complying with the federal Fair Labor Standards Act’s minimum-wage and overtime requirements. An FLSA workweek is a fixed, regularly-recurring period of seven, consecutive, 24-hour periods that management expressly adopts for FLSA purposes. Employers must select and document at least one such workweek (or ...

Anticipating Trump’s Impact on Labor Relations in the Hotel Industry

by Dana Kravetz in Food & Beverage, Human Resources, Legal. Posted December 12, 2016

Unlike his oval office predecessor, President-elect Donald Trump is expected to limit federal labor and employment agency activism in wage and hour and other employment-related matters. Hotel owners and franchisors, which in recent months have experienced numerous workforce-related challenges, are likely to witness significant labor and employment policy shifts, a few of which are detailed ...

FLSA Exemption Changes and the Election

by Ted Boehm in Human Resources, Legal. Posted November 15, 2016

Many employers are wondering whether Donald Trump’s election means that they may now forget about the coming [exemption] changes in the federal Fair Labor Standards Act’s “white collar” definitions. The answer is clear: The election results do not suspend or reverse those changes. The Countdown Continues By their own terms, the new regulations are scheduled ...

White House Pushes for Ban on Non-Competes

by David Barron in Human Resources. Posted November 11, 2016

The enforceability of employee restrictions on competition has traditionally been up the states, with some, like California, largely banning such agreements, while others, like Texas, allowing them with reasonable limitations. On Tuesday, October 25, the White House took the unprecedented step of calling on state legislatures to ban non-competes […]. A news report on the ...

Medical Marijuana and the Workplace

by Heidi Quan in Human Resources, Legal. Posted November 7, 2016

Dazed and Confused: How Upcoming Ballot Measures and Cases of Interest Continue to Change the Legal Landscape around Marijuana California’s Compassionate Use Act (CUA) of 1996 decriminalized the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. However, it did not legalize marijuana. It only shields medical users and caregivers from criminal liability. Recently, Governor Brown signed into ...

Best Practices for Mobile Device Data Security

by Post & Schell in Legal, Safety & Security, Technology. Posted July 18, 2015

In 2014, it became official: There now are more active mobile devices in the world than people, according to data compiled by GSMA Intelligence and the U.S. Census Bureau. The rise in mobile devices is not confined to personal use; mobile devices increasingly play an integral role in many business operations. We rely on mobile ...

Passing Credit Card Swipe Fees to Employees and Guests

by Kara Maciel in Food & Beverage, Legal, Lodging, Technology. Posted June 28, 2015

Our national hospitality practice frequently advises restaurant owners and operators on whether it is legal for employers to pass credit card swipe fees onto employees or even to guests, and the short answer is, yes, in most states. But whether an employer wants to actually pass along this charge and risk alienating their staff or ...

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