On February 22, 2023, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that a former oil rig employee who was paid a daily rate that totaled more than $200,000 annually is entitled to overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards...more
The Louisiana Court of Appeal, First Circuit, in DiVittorio v. Seale & Ross, PLC, affirmed a trial court’s judgment in favor of associate attorneys, granting them certain bonus compensation but denying another bonus claim....more
Louisiana has become the first state with a Democratic governor to pass a law eliminating the $300 per week supplemental unemployment benefit created by the federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA). Under the new...more
On June 10, 2019, the Supreme Court of the United States unanimously ruled that state wage and hour laws do not apply to offshore drilling workers where federal law addresses the relevant issue. In Parker Drilling Management...more
6/19/2019
/ Appeals ,
Choice-of-Law ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Enclave Rules ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Federal v State Law Application ,
Offshore Drilling ,
On-Call Employees ,
Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act ,
Parker Drilling Management Services Ltd v Newton ,
Preemption ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
State Labor Laws ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Wage and Hour
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently held that a group of directional driller consultants were independent contractors, not employees, in large part due to their highly specialized skills, degree of...more
3/26/2019
/ Appeals ,
Collective Actions ,
Consultants ,
De Novo Standard of Review ,
Employee Definition ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Oil & Gas ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Summary Judgment ,
Wage and Hour ,
Well Drilling
The Louisiana Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal has held that painters may be treated as independent contractors if they bring some of their own tools, control their own schedules, and make decisions on how to complete the work...more
In a recent ruling, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a district court’s order granting summary judgment in which the district court held that an employee may be exempt from overtime under Colorado’s motor carrier...more
On February 12, 2016, the First Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s decision that an employer may use the fluctuating workweek (FWW) method to calculate overtime pay rates even when an employee’s weekly pay...more
The First Circuit Court of Appeals recently affirmed a lower court’s decision that an employer may use the fluctuating workweek method to calculate overtime pay rates even when an employee’s weekly pay varies because of...more
In August we reported that the City of New Orleans had passed a “Living Wage” ordinance requiring city contractors and grant recipients to pay their employees a minimum wage of $10.55 per hour. The new law also requires...more
The United States Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, administers the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). That authority includes the power to investigate employers, their customers and payroll practices. ...more
The United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma in Sharp v. CGG Land (U.S.) Inc., No. 14-cv-0614 (October 19, 2015), recently ruled in favor of an employer that had excluded per diem payments from a...more
In the course of two months, two separate Fifth Circuit panels have issued decisions that call into question the application of the fluctuating workweek (FWW) method in suits for unpaid overtime based on misclassification. In...more