I read an interesting post by Sara Zorich of Amundsen Davis concerning the year-end wage hour issues that employers must deal with, and I agree with the concepts set forth in that article. There are a number of implications for these year-end issues which may inadvertently expose employers to liability if they do not take heed.

As the post notes, there is a concern with the giving of bonuses to non-exempt workers. Unless this is a true Christmas bonus or a bonus given in a totally discretionary (i.e., subjective) manner, that bonus must be included in the regular rate of employees if they work overtime. If the bonus is part of an incentive program or a production bonus or promised in any way to workers, it is includible. If it is a year-end bonus, then it must be allocated over fifty-two weeks, an equal portion thrown into each week and then overtime must be calculated or re-calculated. READ MORE