Tips from Seyfarth is a blog series for employers, and their in-house lawyers and HR, payroll, and compensation professionals, in the food, beverage, and hospitality sector. We curate wage and hour compliance “tips” to keep...more
Last June (2023), in response to a ruling request from Your Special Delivery Services Specialty Logistics (YSDS), Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued HQ H324098, clarifying what it means to be an “owner or purchaser”...more
More than a year after the US Department of Labor announced the return of the time-keeping nightmare that is the 80/20 rule with new tweaks that encourage even more litigation, the agency just released new guidance that...more
The federal safety agency recently unveiled new initiatives aimed at “impactful enforcement . . . in the form of increased citations and penalties.” Changes to how the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) uses...more
The issue of whether expense reimbursements should be included as “wages” when computing the regular rate for overtime has been around for many years. Sometimes, an employer will seek to “disguise” wages as expenses in order...more
On October 28, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a Final Rule establishing limits on the amount of time tipped employees can spend performing work that is not “tip- producing work” and still being paid at the...more
In late 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a Tip Regulations Final Rule that, in part, sought to eliminate the so-called “80/20,” or “20%,” Rule under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The 20% Rule has been...more
Following months of political maneuvering, including a gubernatorial veto, Connecticut has enacted compromise legislation that attempts to clarify how restaurants and other hospitality industry employers must pay workers who...more
Executive Summary: On November 5, 2019, a federal district court in Ohio issued a decision clarifying the law governing whether owners of 73 Papa John’s franchised locations violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) by...more
Employers that utilize the “tip credit” in the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), or whose employees receive tips, should carefully consider regulatory changes that were proposed by USDOL today. While many of the...more
February has been a busy month for the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”). The Wage and Hour Division (“WHD”) published new guidance addressing tipped employees and payment of subminimum wages and released a new compliance...more
On February 15, the U.S. Department of Labor struck another nail into the coffin of the infamous “20% Rule,” the agency’s prior enforcement position which purported to limit an employer’s ability to take the federal Fair...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The DOL has reissued a long-awaited opinion letter withdrawing its previous 20% tip credit rule and making clear that “no limit is placed on the amount of [related but non-tipped] duties that may be...more
Usually legislative and regulatory developments slow down in the summer months, which is good news because July brings more pressing matters than reading bills or proposed rules, like eating too many hot dogs or yelling at an...more
Until 2015, it was the practice of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to look back only three years to establish “repeat” violations under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act). In 2015, OSHA...more
September may mean saying goodbye to summer, but minimum wage and overtime developments across the country are still going strong. A nominee to lead federal wage and hour enforcement efforts has been put forward, labor...more
On September 6, 2017, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals declined to accord deference to the U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL) interpretation of its "dual jobs" regulation. The court reasoned that the interpretation, as...more
Four years ago, in a letter of interpretation addressed to Steve Sallman of the United Steelworkers of America (the Sallman Letter), the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) changed more than 35 years...more
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Gillian Berger, et al. v. National Collegiate Athletic Association, et al, 16-1558 (7th Cir. 2016) has affirmed a district court's decision that...more
Back in August, the National Labor Relations Board threw the higher education community a curve ball ruling that student assistants at Columbia University were employees under the National Labor Relations Act, and were...more
U.S. OSHA recently released its new Field Operations Manual (“Manual”), with several changes of particular importance to oil and gas operations. The Manual is the field guidance that directs the work of OSHA’s Compliance,...more
U.S. OSHA recently released its new Field Operations Manual (“Manual”). The Manual is the field guidance that directs the work of OSHA’s Compliance, Safety & Health Officers (“CSHOs”) commonly referred to as “OSHA...more
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has just released a substantial update to its Field Operations Manual (FOM), CPL 02-00-159 (October 1, 2015). The FOM is a reference document for OSHA field personnel...more