| Bonuses
It's common practice for employers to pay their employees bonuses as a way to reward work performance or to improve company morale. A combination of company profitability, employee performance, and job position usually determine the amount of bonuses paid.
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| Comp time
Instead of giving overtime pay, some companies reward employees who work extra hours with time off. Although this practice, known as 'giving comp time', is legal under the Fair Labor Standards Act, there are certain limits to how it can be granted.
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| Docking
'Docking' refers to the practice of reducing an employee's pay for disciplinary reasons such as chronic absenteeism, tardiness, negligence, or theft. This practice is legal under the Fair Labor Standards Act, or FLSA (F-L-S-A), as long as the employee who's pay is being docked is covered under the act and the deduction made doesn't reduce the employee's earnings below the federal minimum wage or cut into his or her overtime compensation.
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| Pay disparities
When employees who hold the same job position are paid differently, the disparity in earnings is usually a matter of merit, productivity, or seniority.
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| Exempt vs. non-exempt workers
Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, or FLSA (F-L-S-A), companies are required to classify each of their workers as either exempt or non-exempt.
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| Independent contractors
Independent contractors are workers who are hired on a one-time or job-by-job basis. They can include consultants, freelancers, or self-employed individuals.
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| "On-call" time
Under The Fair Labor Standards Act, or FLSA (F-L-S-A), employers are legally allowed to require employees to be on-call. If companies choose to do so, FLSA regulations require that employees be properly compensated for their working time.
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| Overtime
All hourly wage earners and other employees covered under the Fair Labor Standards Act are entitled to receive overtime compensation if they work more than 40 hours in a week.
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| Portal-to-portal act
Under the federal Portal-to-Portal Act, employers are only required to compensate workers for working time that's spent on activities related to their job.
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| Temporary employer
Hiring temporary workers has become a useful and low-cost way for many companies to fill staff shortages. One of the benefits of using temporary workers is that companies don't have to bear the costs or the responsibilities of providing and coordinating the benefits programs for them.
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| Travel reimbursement
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, employers must reimburse hourly wage earners for all travel time that's related to their job responsibilities. For example, if employees must travel during normal working hours, then companies are obligated to pay them for their time.
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| Wage garnishment
Wage garnishment is a legal, usually court-ordered, procedure that requires employers to withhold part of an employee's earnings to fulfill the payment of a debt.
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