Q. Are there any government laws that regulate an organization's compensation policies and programs?

A. Yes. There are both state and federal laws or statutes that regulate an organization's compensation policies and programs. The most important single piece of legislation is the Fair Labor Standards Act. The U.S. Congress passed this legislation in 1938. This law established for some jobs a minimum wage, the payment of overtime and the need for employers to keep certain records. Congress wanted to ensure that the employers would not take unfair advantage of their employees, as some employers had during the Great Depression.

Q: I have heard a fair amount of discussion during the past few months about performance standards. What are they and how do they apply to my position?

A. Performance standards are measures developed to assess how successful an employee is in completing the responsibilities of his or her position. They can measure the results obtained in terms of the quality or quantity of the work performed, as well as the timeliness of the performance. Each staff employee should have met with his or her supervisor and established at least one work-related performance standard for his or her position for fiscal year 2000. There also is a universal standard that applies to all staff positions. The expectation of this standard is that all employees will participate in a mission-related activity during the current fiscal year.

Human resources would like to hear from you. Please address your questions to Michael Memos in Fitzgerald Hall.

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