The National Labor Relations Board in 2023 has continued on its pro-union path in all areas of traditional labor law. Many of the NLRB’s actions are the result of the ongoing advice memos which are being issued by General...more
8/4/2023
/ Collective Bargaining ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Union Membership ,
Union Organizers ,
Unions
Are PhD students at a private university who also teach courses and grade papers – tasks that are a part of their development but also certainly assist the university – employees who can unionize? The NLRB said yes for a...more
7/19/2023
/ College Athletes ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employees ,
Graduate Students ,
Independent Contractors ,
NLRB ,
Private Schools ,
State Labor Laws ,
Student Athletes ,
Student Employees ,
Unions
Tracking intermittent FMLA time — it’s every HR professional’s favorite thing to do. Do you come up with a total number of hours per employee or just count portions of the workweek? What do you do if an employee takes...more
All employers subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) must post an updated version of the FLSA “Employee Rights” poster to remain compliant with the law....more
5/18/2023
/ Breastfeeding ,
Covered Employer ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Minimum Wage ,
Over-Time ,
Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (“PUMP Act”) ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
Wage and Hour
The United States Department of Labor recently issued Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2023-1 (FAB), which provides guidance to agency officials on a number of telework issues. The FAB addresses (1) paying workers who telework...more
In a highly anticipated ruling under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the U.S. Supreme Court in Helix Energy Solutions v. Hewitt held that an employee did not qualify for the highly paid exemption from the FLSA’s overtime pay...more
If an employer hires undocumented workers, are they covered under the U.S. employment laws? Initially, employers must complete Form I-9s for all new employees and cannot hire workers who are unable to establish that they’re...more
2/2/2023
/ Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Deportation ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Form I-9 ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Labor Regulations ,
New Guidance ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Title VII ,
Undocumented Immigrants
This year brought substantial progress in the way of slightly fewer positive COVID-19 cases and/or transmissions and increased vaccinations. Consequently, in the employment world many of you reopened your offices and invited...more
11/23/2022
/ Bureau of Labor Statistics ,
Classification ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Independent Contractors ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Posting Requirements ,
Safe Harbors ,
State and Local Government ,
Unemployment ,
Vaccinations ,
Wage and Hour
If you were just getting comfortable with the DOL’s final rule on employee versus independent contractor status (which took effect on March 8, 2021), there is bad news… or maybe good news. The DOL announced on October 11,...more
The Department of Labor (DOL) recently proposed new federal regulations regarding how minimum wages will be calculated for federal construction projects. DOL’s new proposal will add to the cost of performing these projects....more
There has been a lot of discussion over the last few years about the joint employer test for liability under employment statutes. Whether it be Uber drivers in California or the back and forth over the Trump administration’s...more
What is the right way to dismiss a case the parties have settled, and are FLSA cases different? Typically, when parties to a lawsuit settle a case, they merely alert the court of the settlement and then file a stipulation of...more
2/15/2022
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ,
Minimum Wage ,
Misclassification ,
Settlement ,
Unpaid Overtime ,
Wage and Hour
We hope your 2022 is off to a good start and you are all managing the COVID-19 pandemic challenges. For this post, we wanted to take a break from COVID-19-specific topics to remind you of some new year to dos. Specifically,...more
In an opinion stating that they believe that opponents of the OSHA ETS on Vaccinations and Testing will be successful in their challenge to that standard, the U.S. Supreme Court yesterday reinstated federal court stays that...more
1/14/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Biden v Missouri ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Lack of Authority ,
National Federation of Independent Business v Department of Labor and OSHA ,
OSHA ,
SCOTUS ,
Stays ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
As most employers already know, OSHA’s newly announced COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) is set to take effect January 4, 2022, and will require, among other things, that workers at U.S. companies with at least 100...more
11/10/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Multidistrict Litigation ,
OSHA ,
Premature Claims ,
Stays ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing
Are you paying employees using a day rate under the FLSA? If so, you may want to read the Fifth Circuit’s recent ruling in the latest string of Helix Energy cases. According to the Fifth Circuit, companies who do business in...more
As promised in our April 2021 post regarding the rules for tipped employees, here’s the update on the final rule. Recall that not all of the rule became effective earlier this year but certain portions were implemented to...more
10/1/2021
/ Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Final Rules ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Minimum Wage ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Tip Credit ,
Tipped Employees ,
Tips ,
Wage and Hour
As we discussed in April, the Biden administration halted the implementation of some of the Trump administration’s changes to the rules on taking a tip credit for non-tipped work. For those that never have had a server job,...more
7/1/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Comment Period ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employees ,
Food Service Workers ,
Minimum Wage ,
New Rules ,
Tip Credit ,
Tipped Employees ,
Tips ,
Trump Administration ,
Wage and Hour
You may have missed it, but Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh perked up some ears last week when he discussed possibly raising the FLSA salary threshold for certain exempt employees. In testimony before a Congressional...more
After the CDC updated its mask guidance, we have all be wondering: Can we eliminate our mask and social distancing requirements for vaccinated employees? Can we ask employees if they have been vaccinated? Can we hold meetings...more
6/11/2021
/ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Healthcare ,
Masks ,
New Guidance ,
OSHA ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
The Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor unveiled a new program, “Essential Workers—Essential Protections,” that focuses on making sure employers comply with overtime and other wage requirements for workers on...more
You may recall we previously reported on the DOL’s new tipped employee regulations that were set to take effect in March 2021. Well, the DOL, under the new administration, is now hitting pause on that final rule. The Biden...more
On January 7, we wrote about the DOL’s Final Rule on Independent Contractor Status that was slated to take effect on March 8, 2021. Many employer and business groups applauded the Final Rule because its focus on the economic...more
3/3/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Final Rules ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Freeze ,
Wage and Hour
As you already know, COVID-19 changed almost everything, and some of those things are likely here to stay (or at least linger for a while longer). One widespread change is the increased use of videoconferencing. In early...more
An unpaid meal break can become a very expensive lunch for an employer, but there are ways to comply with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to try and minimize the risk.
Identifying the Potential Problem -
The...more