Hold an employee’s final paycheck until he returns his pager and uniform.
Holding a final paycheck looks like a reasonable, perfectly fair way to get a former employee to return uniforms or other property, or complete required termination paperwork, especially since signed an agreement promising to return all company property. Be that as it may, failure to provide a final paycheck within the legal time limits, regardless of what the employee still holds, can be an expensive and time-consuming mistake.
Let everybody work four 10-hour days or whatever schedule they want.
New York Wage and hour laws place a lot of restrictions on the number of hours an employee may work each day and week without overtime pay. Letting everyone work four 10-hour days (or any schedule they choose) without first getting sound legal advice could end up being very expensive. Even an employee who agrees in writing to this type of schedule is usually entitled to file a claim against the employer and receive back overtime with interest.
Pay everybody a salary. Payroll is so much simpler without having to calculate overtime.
Under federal law, certain employees are exempt from overtime requirements and can be paid a straight salary no matter how many hours they work. Employees who don’t qualify for an exemption are entitled to overtime pay, and can’t agree to forego overtime pay in exchange for receiving a salary.
To increase productivity, make employees work through lunch breaks on busy days and make up the missed time off on slower days.
Non-exempt employees generally are entitled to a half-hour meal break for every work day more than five hours. For each workday an employer doesn’t give an employee a required meal break, the employer owes the employee one additional hour of pay.