In This Issue:

Seven Signs Your Employees May Be Poachable

By Michael R. Greco and Christopher P. Stief (Philadelphia)

A recent survey by Manpower suggests that employers across the country are planning to increase their hiring during the second quarter of 2011. Will they be hiring your best people away from you? Putting it another way . . . are your employees poachable? Consider the following:

1) Is employee morale down? If so, it may not be long before the word is out. With the use of social media growing exponentially, there are more ways than ever before for recruiters to find out which employees are fed up with their companies and ready to tiptoe out the door. You need to know if your employees are unhappy before your competitors do. Don’t wait until they are broadcasting their discontent on social networks. If you are unclear about how your employees feel, conduct an internal survey to measure morale before it’s too late......

DOL’s New Tip-Credit Interpretations

By John E. Thompson (Atlanta)

The federal Fair Labor Standards Act’s “tip credit” was among the many topics addressed by the U.S. Labor Department’s recent final rule. DOL’s tip-related pronouncements are a mixed-bag for employers.

The General Principles

The FLSA allows an employer to credit a portion of a tipped employee’s tips toward the FLSA-required minimum wage (currently $7.25 per hour). Employers taking an FLSA tip credit must pay a cash wage of not less than $2.13 per hour, so at present they are limited to a tip credit of no more than $5.12 per hour ($7.25 - $2.13 = $5.12)....