Workforce Management

A federal judge in Texas issued a preliminary injunction blocking an Obama administration rule that would have allowed more employees to qualify for overtime pay by raising the salary limit to $47,476 from $23,660. The new regulations were set to take effect on Dec. 1.   The Labor Department said it “strongly disagreed” with the decision and was “considering all of our legal options.”        

As the holidays approach, this group of retailers is feeling very confident about its financial health.        Eighty-percent of middle-market retailers (revenue between $5 million and $2.9 billion) rated their overall financial condition as healthy or very healthy in the 8th annual CIT Retail Outlook. Sixty-percent expect an increase in total sales of more than 5% for the 2016 holiday season, compared to only 33% three years ago.    

Paid Sick Leave laws have spread like wildfire across several states and cities, each with their own unique requirements.     Employers in California may find themselves navigating a web of requirements. The state of California’s paid sick leave statute went into effect in July 2015, and there are also local ordinances in the cities of San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, Emeryville, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, and San Diego.    

The contractor that flies packages for Amazon and DHL Worldwide Express, ABX Air, has asked a federal judge to force its striking pilots back to work as it looks to put an early end to what could be a major disruption to holiday deliveries, Bloomberg reported.   

There is no doubt that employee-driven mobility programs are moving the dial on engagement, productivity and other business opportunities. However, too many companies are not asking the right questions when considering deployments.  

The ghost of holidays past hangs over many retail workers, according to a new study of part- and full-time retail employees by Kronos.   Forty-percent of employees in the survey said that their employer did not have enough staff in previous years to account for the amount of shoppers they receive at their store. And 53% are worried about getting burned out during the holiday season.  

With some 2,975 team members in its 123 company-owned restaurants and support center, Fazoli’s, the nation’s largest fast-casual Italian restaurant chain, is addressing the Department of Labor’s new overtime rule head on. CSA spoke with Carl Howard, president and CEO of Fazoli’s, about the company’s strategy regarding the new regulations, scheduled to take effect December 1.   How do you think the new overtime rule will impact your workplace?

Retailers and other employers of minimum-wage earners can expect to see their labor costs go up in four states.    Voters in the states of Colorado, Maine, Washington, and Arizona all approved measures to raise their state’s minimum wage in Tuesday’s election.   The biggest hike will be in Maine, where the minimum hourly pay will increase from $7.50 to $12 by 2020, and later increasing with inflation.