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Question: What is the difference between an exempt employee and a nonexempt employee? And how do I know who’s who in my office? Answer: Good questions. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is a federal law requiring that most employees receive at least minimum wage for each hour worked and overtime pay for hours worked

Question: When are we required to pay for trainings?  Answer: In general, time spent in job-related training is counted as time worked and must be paid. However, not every lecture, class, training program, or similar activity would qualify. If all four of the following criteria are met, you don’t need to pay the employee for

Question: Our previous HR director was lax about policy enforcement, particularly around tardiness and dress code. What’s the best way to start enforcing these policies consistently?  Answer: If possible, we recommend meeting with employees to inform them that, going forward, these policies will be uniformly enforced. If meetings aren’t a viable option, a company-wide announcement

Question: Do we need to tell employees when employment laws change? Answer: Possibly. As the employer, you need to stay up to date on legal changes that affect your organization, and your leadership team, managers, human resources, and payroll departments should be kept aware of any new legal requirements or rights that will apply to them

Question: What can we do to reduce turnover and retain employees? Answer: High turnover can quickly become costly. We recommend the following practices to increase retention:  Advice provided by Mineral. This Q&A does not constitute legal advice and does not address state or local law.  David KatzVice PresidentVMA Insurance Services To send your questions, write to

Question: We have a longtime employee who’s no longer meeting expectations. The owner is afraid to hold them accountable because they’re over 40 and therefore in a protected class. What can we do? Answer: In general, you shouldn’t let an employee’s protected class status deter you from holding them accountable to your performance expectations. After all,

Question: What are whistleblower protections?  Whistleblowing occurs when an employee reports wrongdoing (dangerous, illegal, or unethical activity or practices by the company or its employees) either directly to the employer or to an outside authority. Many laws, including the Occupational Safety and Health Act, consider whistleblowing a protected activity, meaning you can’t lawfully retaliate against

Question: We’ve identified the job candidates we’d like to interview, but we still have applications coming in. Do we need to review every application before moving forward with interviews and making a job offer?  Answer: The short answer is no. There’s no legal requirement to review all the applications before moving forward, and you can always

Question: What is mentoring in the workplace?  Answer: Mentoring is a professional relationship between a senior or more experienced employee (the mentor) and a newer or less experienced one (the mentee). The mentor shares their knowledge and experience, offering guidance, advice, feedback, and encouragement. The mentee, for their part, can go to their mentor with

Question: We would like to add a working interview to our selection process. Is this permitted and are there other options to help us finalize our selection?  Answer: Yes, you can have a working interview as part of your selection process, but there’s a big caveat. If you have the candidate do “real work” that