School is out for the summer and high school students (many of whom are under the age of 18) are “pounding the pavement” and looking for the perfect summer job. For the purposes of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“Act”), the federal law that governs
Effective July 1, 2011, the Florida Legislature enacted amendments to Chapter 443 of the Florida Statutes governing unemployment compensation benefits and taxes. Prior to the July 1, 2011 amendment, many employers complained about an employee being able to receive unemployment benefits even though the employee
Date Published: 2008-08-01 Author: Christina Harris Schwinn The Florida Legislature meets each year generally beginning on the first Monday of March and concludes 60 days thereafter. The bills that were passed by both houses of the Legislature are then forwarded to the Governor’s office for action. The Governor
Date Published: 2011-05-01 Author: Christina Harris Schwinn Last month’s article featured Part I of II – Making Good Hiring Decisions in Good Times and Bad Times. This month, Part II of II will discuss effective interviewing skills. Effective interviewing skills can be developed if proper attention is paid to
Date Published: 2011-04-01 Author: Christina Harris Schwinn There is no question about the fact that hiring the right employee for your company can be a daunting and time consuming process. Unfortunately, many employers fail to recognize the overall benefit of having good hiring procedures in place prior
Date Published: 2007-04-01 Author: Christina Harris Schwinn This article is focused on the private sector, not government employers. Florida is an employer-friendly state. Unlike some other states, Florida is a right-to-work state and many of the laws that are in place favor the employer, not the employee. However,
Date Published: 2008-12-01 Author: Christina Harris Schwinn This month’s column will provide the answers to the questions presented in last month’s column in the Wage and Hour Quiz. The questions have been repeated for the reader’s convenience. 1) If I pay an employee a salary, I do not
Date Published: 2010-11-01 Author: Christina Harris Schwinn There are two major pieces of legislation pending in Congress that employers should be aware of as both bills would significantly impact the classification of independent contractors and the tests that are applied for the purposes of determining who is
Date Published: 2011-04-26 Author: Christina Harris Schwinn OSHA’S Fall Protection Directive Affects Residential Construction Contractors To the chagrin of the National Roofing Contractors Association, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit rejected its challenge to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (“OSHA”) December 2010 Directive