Nanny Sues Ex-Employer
Robert Taubman, a prominent Michigan developer, has been sued by his former nanny for failure to pay overtime wages.
Families leave themselves open to these kinds of actions by former household employees when they:
1. Fail to maintain accurate and contemporaneous time tracking. A calendar with start and stop times works just fine.
2. Fail to stipulate the employee's wage in hourly rate terms. If you have an agreement that says Mary will be paid $650 a week, a court will interpret that as wages for 40 hours. If instead you say "Mary will be compensated weekly $650.00 gross, based on an gross hourly wage of $13.68 and a 45 hour work week. Employee guaranteed minimum Weekly compensation of $650.00 gross. Weekly hours worked in excess of 40 per week to be compensated at $20.53 gross per hour." you are covered.
3. Willfully ignoring overtime rules, and paying straight hourly rate for any number of hours.
Take the time at the start of employment to carefully state the terms of compensation, make sure they are compatible with Federal and state law (a contract that violates the law is invalid), and keep records. An ounce of prevention...
The nanny's attorney reports that a financial settlement was offered to the nanny by the Taubman's but rejected. The nanny is seeking $50K.
Families leave themselves open to these kinds of actions by former household employees when they:
1. Fail to maintain accurate and contemporaneous time tracking. A calendar with start and stop times works just fine.
2. Fail to stipulate the employee's wage in hourly rate terms. If you have an agreement that says Mary will be paid $650 a week, a court will interpret that as wages for 40 hours. If instead you say "Mary will be compensated weekly $650.00 gross, based on an gross hourly wage of $13.68 and a 45 hour work week. Employee guaranteed minimum Weekly compensation of $650.00 gross. Weekly hours worked in excess of 40 per week to be compensated at $20.53 gross per hour." you are covered.
3. Willfully ignoring overtime rules, and paying straight hourly rate for any number of hours.
Take the time at the start of employment to carefully state the terms of compensation, make sure they are compatible with Federal and state law (a contract that violates the law is invalid), and keep records. An ounce of prevention...
The nanny's attorney reports that a financial settlement was offered to the nanny by the Taubman's but rejected. The nanny is seeking $50K.
posted by Kathleen Webb at
12:18
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