News & Analysis as of

Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) Bonuses

Fisher Phillips

Reclassifying Employees to Non-Exempt Status? Consider a “Percentage Bonus” to Avoid Costly Overtime Pay Mistakes

Fisher Phillips on

Many employers are planning to reclassify employees to non-exempt status now that the Labor Department is significantly raising the salary threshold for employees to be exempt from overtime pay. You likely know that...more

McAfee & Taft

No good deed goes unpunished: Avoiding FLSA pitfalls surrounding holiday pay

McAfee & Taft on

The end of the year often brings a bevy of holiday compensation: bonuses, paid days off, and higher rates of pay. However, it is critical for employers to keep the Fair Labor Standards Act in mind when doling out these...more

Amundsen Davis LLC

Time to Check Your Year-End Wage and Hour Compliance

Amundsen Davis LLC on

As we wind down 2023, your company may be sharing with its employees either through business closing periods or end-of-the-year bonuses. Employers must be cognizant that these generous gestures may carry compliance...more

Warner Norcross + Judd

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Uptick in FLSA Litigation Over Attendance Bonuses

Warner Norcross + Judd on

In the wake of the pandemic, some employers — opting for the carrot over the stick — have started offering weekly attendance bonuses to incentivize a return to the office. We have recently seen an uptick in employee-filed...more

Smith Gambrell Russell

‘Tis the Season: Annual Party Pooper’s Guide to the Holidays

Smith Gambrell Russell on

‘Tis the season for celebration. For employers, that may mean hosting an annual holiday party, catering an office luncheon, or distributing end-of-year gifts and bonuses. However, with the holiday season comes potential...more

Husch Blackwell LLP

DOL Proposes Substantial Increase in Salary Threshold Levels for Overtime Exemptions

Husch Blackwell LLP on

On August 30, 2023, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued a proposed rule regarding the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) overtime exemptions, most notably increasing the standard salary threshold for the so-called “white...more

Fox Rothschild LLP

The “Regular Rate” For FLSA Purposes Can Be A Confusing Concept For Employers And An Expensive One!

Fox Rothschild LLP on

I read an interesting post by Frank Shuster of Constangy, Brooks, Smith on the thorny and often misunderstood issue of the “regular rate” and what that concept entails for compliance with the FLSA. Many employers,...more

ArentFox Schiff

California Court Upholds Percentage Bonus, Without Recalculating Overtime Regular Rate

ArentFox Schiff on

Similar to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), California law requires an employer to pay overtime based on an employee’s “regular rate of pay.” That rate may not be just an employee’s hourly wage, or straight time,...more

CDF Labor Law LLP

Appellate Court Holds That Percentage Bonuses Can Be Calculated Using FLSA Method

CDF Labor Law LLP on

In a pro-employer decision addressing the overlap of federal and California wage and hour law, the California Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District upheld summary adjudication for the employer, finding that the...more

Fisher Phillips

Top 10 Ways Employers Can Avoid Regular Rate Wage Mistakes On Their 2023 Resolutions Lists

Fisher Phillips on

When the US Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division published a Final Rule on the regular rate in late 2019, it gave employers the freedom to more easily offer perks and benefits to their employees without running afoul...more

Fox Rothschild LLP

Not Including Promised Bonuses In Regular Rate A Big No-No!

Fox Rothschild LLP on

It is black letter FLSA canon that a promised bonus, such as a production bonus, or longevity bonus, must be included in the regular rate of employees who work overtime for the period of time covered by the bonus. This maxim...more

Smith Gambrell Russell

Annual Party Poopers’ Guide to the Holidays: The Office Holiday Party is Back and So Are We

Smith Gambrell Russell on

Over the past two years, employers dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic were forced to hold their holiday celebrations virtually via Zoom, or maybe even scrapped such events altogether given the circumstances. This year,...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Overtime Rules Require Addition of Incentive Compensation to Regular Rate

​​​​​​​Over the years, we have periodically published EmployNews articles on the impact of bonuses or other incentive compensation on the regular rate used to calculate overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)....more

Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, P.A.

Bonuses & Calculating an Employee’s Regular Rate of Pay for Overtime

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires that non-exempt employees be paid no less than time and one-half their regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 hours in a workweek. How should an employer calculate an...more

Fox Rothschild LLP

Bonuses Must Be Included In Regular Rate For Non-Exempt Employees: Another Cautionary Tale?

Fox Rothschild LLP on

What employers often miss when calculating proper overtime is that they must include in the regular rate different kinds of supplemental payments that non-exempt people receive. If they do not, they are not paying properly. ...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Key Legal Considerations for Hiring and Retention Incentives in Healthcare

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

Healthcare organizations across the United States are facing an unprecedented labor shortage. Many healthcare employers are moving quickly to implement creative solutions that will attract and retain a qualified workforce....more

Fox Rothschild LLP

Cryptocurrency And The FLSA: Is The Law Catching Up To The Modern Financial World?

Fox Rothschild LLP on

I read an interesting article by Justin Brown and Lisa Schreter of Littler Mendelson about the usage of cryptocurrency as a way of paying employees. As if those of us who advise management did not have enough headaches, this...more

McGlinchey Stafford

Is the Tide Shifting on Hunstein?- The Bullet Point: A Commercial Law Bulletin

McGlinchey Stafford on

Ohio- Restrictive Covenants- New California Woods Homeowners Assn. v. Jakse, 3d Dist. Union No. 14-21-04, 2021-Ohio-3783 In this appeal, the Third Appellate District affirmed the trial court’s decision, agreeing that...more

Miles & Stockbridge P.C.

How to Manage Risk in a Sizzling Summer Labor Market

After more than a year of widespread unemployment, 2021 summer travelers saw establishments of all kinds advertising employment openings. With the expiration of pandemic-related federal and state unemployment benefits, many...more

Fox Rothschild LLP

COVID Related Wage Increases Includible In Regular Rate In FLSA Overtime Case

Fox Rothschild LLP on

I have blogged many times about cases where relatively small amounts of compensation, bonus type compensation, are not included when an employer calculates the regular rate for overtime and a class action ensues. Now, this is...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Bonuses Prompted By Federal Tax Reform And Pay For Charitable Volunteer Time Were Properly Excluded From Employees’ Overtime...

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

Affirming the dismissal of wage and hour claims against “big box” retailer Lowe’s, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed that company bonuses, provided to employees following 2018 revisions to federal tax law, were...more

Epstein Becker & Green

Time Is Money: A Quick Wage-Hour Tip on … Regular Rate Exclusions Applicable to Year-End Bonuses

Epstein Becker & Green on

With the end of the year just around the corner, many employers may be contemplating giving year-end bonuses to their non-exempt employees. And bonuses, year-end or otherwise, can create problems for employers when it comes...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Fifth Circuit: Burden of Proof on Employees to Show Bonuses Should Be Included in Overtime Rates

Holland & Knight LLP on

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in an issue of first impression, has answered a critical question in Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) overtime disputes: "Who has the burden of proof on whether bonuses are...more

Epstein Becker & Green

Fifth Circuit Concludes Employees Must Prove That a Bonus Payment Should Be Included in FLSA Regular Rate

Epstein Becker & Green on

In a case of first impression for the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, a Fifth Circuit panel has ruled that it is the employee, not the employer, who has the burden to establish that bonus payments are non-discretionary and,...more

Fox Rothschild LLP

Great Fifth Circuit Decision On Exclusion Of Bonus From Regular Rate Under FLSA

Fox Rothschild LLP on

I have often blogged about the thorny issue of bonuses under the FLSA and when those bonuses must be included in the regular rate of employees for overtime purposes. The crucial test is whether the bonus is discretionary,...more

131 Results
 / 
View per page
Page: of 6

"My best business intelligence, in one easy email…"

Your first step to building a free, personalized, morning email brief covering pertinent authors and topics on JD Supra:
*By using the service, you signify your acceptance of JD Supra's Privacy Policy.
- hide
- hide