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This week, Jenny and Sarah tackle the HR landmines small businesses step on all the time.

They break down three compliance issues that quietly turn into very loud, very expensive problems: employee misclassification, messy PTO policies, and unpaid interns who legally aren’t interns.

First: employee misclassification. Paying someone a salary does not make them exempt. Titles don’t matter. Good intentions don’t matter. If someone should’ve been earning overtime and wasn’t, the Department of Labor is not interested in your logic. They’re interested in back pay and penalties.

Then: PTO policies. That “use it or lose it” language still floating around in Colorado? Illegal. Accrued PTO is earned wages. You cannot wipe it out at year-end. They also break down accrual vs. lump sum, payout rules, and why negative PTO feels generous until someone quits and payroll gets messy.

Finally: unpaid interns. The “it’s for experience” kind. The “my friend’s kid needs exposure” kind. The rules are stricter than people think. If the company is benefiting more than the intern, you likely have an employee. And that risk adds up fast.

If you think “we’ve always done it this way” is a solid strategy, this episode might stress you out a little. In a good way.

What’s inside this episode:

[03:12] Why paying someone a salary does not automatically make them exempt
[06:45] The real difference between exempt and non-exempt under FLSA
[10:18] How misclassification turns into back wages, penalties, and audits
[15:02] Why independent contractor status isn’t a “mutual agreement” situation
[19:37] What the Department of Labor actually looks at
[24:11] Why “use it or lose it” PTO policies are illegal in Colorado
[28:26] Accrued vs. lump-sum PTO and where companies get into trouble
[32:54] The negative PTO trap no one thinks through
[36:40] The strict rules around unpaid internships
[41:12] How to structure internships so they’re actually compliant

Hit play. Fix what needs fixing. Then send it to the friend who still thinks titles determine exemption status.

Visit our website: RISE Human Resources

Book a call: 30 Min HR Consultation

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This week, Jenny and Sarah tackle a topic that somehow manages to be both extremely relatable and extremely lawsuit-y: swearing at work.

It starts with a law update that made both of them do a double take. Turns out, “letting an F-word fly” at work is no longer just a culture question. In some cases, it is a legal one. And in 2024 and 2025, the courts made that line a lot thinner than it used to be.

What’s inside this episode:

[05:32] Why swearing can make you seem more authentic and more trustworthy, according to research

[12:17] Why that same swearing can still get your company sued

[14:56] The court cases that changed the rules around hostile work environment claims

[15:55] Why one single comment can now be enough to trigger serious legal trouble

[25:09] The difference between swearing at the printer and swearing at a person

[17:17] Why gender-specific and identity-based slurs are basically a career-ending choice

[18:13] How different industries and different countries treat workplace language very differently

[28:31] The impossible spot employers are in between the EEOC and the NLRB

[34:25] Why “that’s just how our industry is” is not a legal defense

[35:48] What new grads and early-career employees should do about swearing at work (hint: don’t)

[39:03] How much these lawsuits actually cost companies when things go wrong

[40:30] Why culture always starts at the top, for better or worse

Jenny and Sarah are not here to pretend nobody ever swears. They are here to explain why the workplace is a different arena, why intent does not protect you from impact, and why “we’ve always done it this way” is a very expensive strategy.

Hit play for some uncomfortable truths, a few wild stories, and a very clear explanation of why the law does not care how authentic you feel.

Visit our website: RISE Human Resources

Book a call: 30 Min HR Consultation

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This week, Jenny and Sarah start the year by doing what they do best: collecting a pile of workplace nonsense from the internet and asking the uncomfortable question.

Why are we still building work like people are machines?

They bounce through everything from four-day workweek studies to open offices, from job hunting on dating apps to LinkedIn slowly becoming Facebook with certificates. Somewhere in the middle, they land on the real issue: work keeps taking more, and nobody seems able to say “that’s enough.”

This episode is a grab bag of trends, but the throughline is simple. We are tired. And the system is pretending that’s a personal problem instead of a design flaw.

What’s inside this episode:

• Why working less shouldn’t just make you a better worker, but a better human
• The real reason open offices exist and why nobody can focus in them
• Why people are using dating apps to find jobs now
• How LinkedIn lost the plot
• What “ghost promotions,” “career shrekking,” “midlife collision,” and “culture rot” actually mean
• Why some countries are making after-hours work illegal
• The uncomfortable conversation about unions and power at work
• Why “just set boundaries” sounds great and works terribly in real life

Jenny and Sarah don’t pretend there’s an easy fix. They do argue that modern work is slowly eating everything else and calling it ambition.

If you’ve ever looked at your job and thought, “This is too much, but I don’t see a way out,” this one will feel uncomfortably familiar.

Hit play. Then go close your laptop.

Visit our website: RISE Human Resources

Book a call: 30 Min HR Consultation

Follow us on Instagram: WTF is Business Casual