The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has published a final rule amending a regulation regarding the right to designate a representative to accompany OSHA inspectors during a workplace inspection. Why do we...more
Last week, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the United States Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (DOL) issued a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that announced they are partnering for the...more
Last week, the Internal Revenue Service issued a polite notice (IR-2021-186) to employers and tax practitioners, as part of National Small Business Week, “to remind… business owners to correctly identify workers as employees...more
On April 19, 2021, Gov. Kay Ivey signed House Bill 408, sponsored by Rep. Wes Kitchens (R-Marshall County/Blount County) and Sen. Clay Scofield (R-Guntersville), into law as Act 2021-226, which will become effective July 1. A...more
4/23/2021
/ Alabama ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Department of Revenue ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Governor Ivey ,
Independent Contractors ,
IRS ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Misclassification ,
Proposed Legislation
We have previously written about the growing complications of employee vs. independent contractor classification in the wake of unemployment assistance in the pandemic era, not only for out-of-work employees but, for the...more
4/23/2021
/ Alabama ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employees ,
Governor Ivey ,
Harmonization Rules ,
Independent Contractors ,
IRS ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Multi-Factor Test ,
New Legislation ,
State Legislatures
In the face of the pandemic over the last year, Congress issued several rounds of unemployment assistance through the CARES Act not only to employees but also to workers classified as independent contractors or self-employed....more
3/24/2021
/ American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 ,
CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Department of Revenue ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Independent Contractors ,
IRS ,
Misclassification ,
New Legislation ,
Non-Employees ,
Self Employed ,
Unemployment Benefits
Remember last January and the salary threshold change the Department of Labor rolled out for salaried exempt and highly compensated employees under the FLSA? As the end of the year approaches, you might need to revisit the...more
12/18/2020
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Final Rules ,
Highly Compensated Employees ,
Obama Administration ,
Over-Time ,
Salaried Employees ,
Unpaid Overtime ,
Wage and Hour
In Part I of this post we covered some of the logistics you need to get started with the FFCRA paid leave provisions. Today we will continue our review of the Department of Labor’s FFCRA temporary regulations and discuss the...more
At the end of last week, the Department of Labor issued 125 pages of FFCRA guidance, including actual temporary regulations and 20 new Q&As (so we are now up to 79 — but who’s counting?). While a full summary of these...more
Earlier this month, the Department of Labor issued a new proposed rule that, if it takes effect, will raise the pay threshold for overtime exemption from an annual salary of $23,660 (or $455 weekly) to $35,308 (or $679...more
3/21/2019
/ Comment Period ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Minimum Salary ,
Non-Exempt Employees ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Over-Time ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
When Lump-Sum Payments to Employees are Earnings for Garnishment Purposes -
Welcome to Part 3 of our series on the Department of Labor’s three new opinion letters. We previously looked at the opinion letters on FMLA...more
When Traveling Employees Are Due Compensation (Or Not) -
Welcome to Part 2 of our series on the Department of Labor’s three new opinion letters. Last week, we looked at the new opinion letter on FMLA intermittent breaks....more
Last July, we posted on the U.S. Department of Labor’s announcement that it was reviving its practice of publishing opinion letters as guidance on wage and hour issues, which the Obama Administration halted in 2010. After...more
On January 5, 2018, the Department of Labor announced two employer-friendly changes applicable to interns and volunteers. Specifically, the DOL has adopted an employer-friendly approach to internships and has reinstated a...more
1/30/2018
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Internships ,
Misclassification ,
Primary Beneficiary Test ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Unpaid Interns ,
Volunteers ,
Wage and Hour
Before everyone gets out of the office to their various homes and families to celebrate the holiday, we wanted to review the year and count our blessings. Not only are we thankful that our families and colleagues in our...more
11/22/2017
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Drug Testing ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Independent Contractors ,
Joint Employers ,
Marijuana ,
Medical Leave ,
NLRB ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Sexual Assault ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Social Media Policy ,
Wage and Hour
Now that the election is over, many clients and friends are asking what labor and employment law might look like under the soon to be President Trump. Of course, no one can predict exactly what will happen in the coming term....more
11/22/2016
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Arbitration ,
Blacklist ,
Browning-Ferris Industries of California Inc. ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
DACA ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
E-Verify ,
Employee Benefits ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Vacancies Reform Act ,
Form I-9 ,
Gender Identity ,
Health Insurance ,
Healthcare ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Reform ,
Joint Employers ,
Judicial Appointments ,
Labor Law Violations ,
LGBTQ ,
Marriage Equality ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Obama Administration ,
OSHA ,
Parental Leave ,
Persuader Rules ,
Protected Class ,
Restroom Legislation ,
Right of First Refusal ,
Same-Sex Marriage ,
Sexual Orientation ,
Sick Leave ,
Transgender ,
Trump Administration ,
Unions ,
USCIS
On Friday, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its long-awaited opinion in the Obergefell case, striking down bans on same-sex marriage as unconstitutional and legalizing same-sex marriage in every state. We posted...more
6/30/2015
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Discrimination ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Health Insurance ,
Marriage ,
Obergefell v. Hodges ,
Same-Sex Marriage ,
SCOTUS ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination
Alabama probate judges began issuing marriage licenses and presiding over ceremonies for same-sex couples a few days ago. The landmark occasion follows a recent ruling out of the Southern District of Alabama that struck down...more