In the 2003 case of De Asencio v. Tyson Foods, the United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit, tackled a labor dispute involving Tyson Foods and its employees' claim of unpaid wages. The lawsuit focused on alleged...more
Wage and hour issues continue to challenge most employers, especially those in the manufacturing industry. The manufacturing industry tends to be more process- and systems-oriented and generally employ many hourly workers who...more
In this legal battle between Tyson Foods and its dedicated employees, the focus is on the concept of fair compensation....more
I love working time cases. And we got a real winner lately. The Third Circuit has recently ruled that clothes-changing time for oil rig workers was compensable. In so doing, the appellate court laid out its framework for...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Employers frequently struggle with questions around the compensability of certain activities, classification of employees, and how to structure their policies to avoid Fair Labor Standards Act violations. ...more
Employers who rely on their workers to identify and report overtime as a prerequisite for payment may be setting themselves up for significant liability. As the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently reminded...more
On August 16, 2023, a unanimous three-judge panel of the Third Circuit vacated and remanded a decision from the Middle District of Pennsylvania ruling that the time spent by oil-rig workers changing in and out of their...more
A federal district court applied the wrong legal test when it held on summary judgment that oil rig workers were not entitled to compensation under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for the time they spent changing into and...more
In Tyger v. Precision Drilling Corp., the Third Circuit Court of Appeals clarified the circumstances under which donning and doffing activities by employees may be compensable under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). ...more
A Pennsylvania battery manufacturer has the dubious distinction of being ordered to pay the largest jury verdict ever awarded to the Department of Labor under the Fair Labor Standards Act - a cool $22 million for failing to...more
I see yet another class action lawsuit involving preliminary and postliminary activities, such as, in this case, donning-and-duffing clothing. A group of workers has sued their employer, a steel fabricating company on that...more
Employers grappling with the many questions related to bringing employees back into the workplace safely in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic should pay close attention to the potential wage-and-hour risks attendant to doing...more
This is an interesting and rather unique situation. Two lawyers who represent a putative class of workers who filed a class action under the Fair Labor Standards Act now want to withdraw from the case. They assert that they...more
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and state wage and hour laws require businesses to record and pay their nonexempt employees for all “compensable time,” including certain activities that occur before an employee begins his...more
Another week brings another round of COVID-19-related lawsuits. We are identifying some early trends and provide a synopsis of the more relevant lawsuits below....more
The Eleventh Circuit recently affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgment to two Florida counties in an action brought against former sheriff deputies under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and Florida Minimum...more
Working time cases come in all sizes and shapes. Many of these off-the-clock cases are so-called donning-and-duffing cases involving clothes changing for work and whether it is compensable. The U.S. Department of Labor has...more
Pending before the United States Supreme Court is a petition for writ of certiorari asking the Court to determine whether an employer may use payments for bona fide meal periods as an offset/credit against compensable work...more
Security apps, passwords, and slow computers can delay the start of the workday for many of us by one to six minutes. For non-exempt employees, this can become an issue. Office employees who clock in using their work...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: As profiled in our recent publication of the 13th Annual Workplace Class Action Litigation Report, the U.S. Supreme Court’s rulings have a profound impact on employers and the tools they may utilize to...more
This past March, we blogged about the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Bouaphakeo v. Tyson Foods, Inc., 136 S. Ct. 1036 (2016), a case in which the plaintiffs alleged that Tyson Foods improperly denied compensation for time...more
In a recent decision, the Third Circuit emphasized the need for employers to capture and compensate all hours worked by non-exempt employees, even if the employer pays the employees for break time that it could treat as...more
The twin forces of technology and globalization are reinventing and redefining the workplace and the way work is performed. The workplace automation of the last century is rapidly being augmented and replaced by intelligent...more
Last week, the Supreme Court ended its 2015-2016 session under a cloud of uncertainty. On February 22, 2016, Justice Antonin Scalia, the stalwart of the Court’s conservative wing for 30 years, passed away. Justice Scalia’s...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Even in the face of a collective bargaining agreement the State of Arkansas reconsiders whether employees should be compensated for time they spend putting on and taking off required protective gear. A...more