This week the Department of Labor issued new guidance, in a “Field Assistance Bulletin,” on the recent amendment to the FLSA regarding tip sharing. The recent amendment to the FLSA (which was included in the omnibus budget...more
4/11/2018
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Food Service Workers ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Tip Credit ,
Tip-Pooling ,
Tipped Employees ,
Tips ,
Wage and Hour
An amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) in the omnibus budget bill, “Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018,” passed by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump on March 23, 2018, provides that an employer...more
Mistakes happen. But when those mistakes result in a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act, what is an employer to do? Pay twice the amount of wages owed to cover both back wages and an amount equal to liquidated...more
Last week the Supreme Court heard – for the second time – oral argument in Encino Motorcars, LLC v. Navarro. At issue is whether “service advisors” at dealerships are covered by what’s known as the “automobile dealer”...more
The Department of Labor has decided to align its analysis under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of the intern-vs.-employee determination with that of the majority of federal appellate courts to have addressed the issue,...more
While the federal minimum wage for non-exempt employees has remained unchanged at $7.25 per hour since 2009, and the federal salary level for exempt employees has been stymied in litigation and rulemaking since 2014, New York...more
Employers in New York currently are permitted to pay tipped workers a direct cash wage that is below the State minimum wage and take a “credit” for some of the tips received by employees to satisfy the difference between the...more
Employers would be expressly permitted to require servers and other tip-earning employees to share their tips with employees working in the kitchen and other “back of the house” employee, but only when the employer does not...more
Big changes may be in store for employers in New York who require employees to be “on call” or who are accustomed to making quick changes to employee schedules, including canceling shifts when customer or client demand...more
The U.S. Department of Labor confirmed on October 30, 2017 that it intends to “undertake new rulemaking with regard to overtime.” While the DOL simultaneously filed an appeal of the district court order holding the prior...more
Finding it wholly inconsistent with the statute and the regulation it purports to interpret, the Ninth Circuit has held invalid the United States Department of Labor’s “80/20” tip credit rule, or “20% Rule,” which limits the...more
As anticipated following last week’s decision by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, striking down the Department of Labor’s May 2016 Final Rule regarding the FLSA’s “white collar” overtime exemptions,...more
The Department of Labor’s May 2016 Final Rule, which would have more than doubled the minimum salary necessary to satisfy the “executive, administrative or professional” (the “EAP” or “white collar”) overtime exemptions under...more
In a case of first impression in the Second Circuit, a court in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has held private settlements under the FLSA entered into prior to a lawsuit being filed do not...more
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals tentatively has set oral argument for October 2nd on the Obama-era overtime pay rule that has been blocked from government enforcement by a federal district court in Texas since last...more
As a preliminary step to replacing the December 1, 2016, Fair Labor Standards Act “white collar” exemptions Final Rule, the Department of Labor has issued a Request for Information (RFI) seeking public comment on a wide...more
The government has asked the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse a Texas District Court Judge who issued a nationwide preliminary injunction blocking the Department of Labor’s Final Rule which would have more than...more
The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that it will reinstate the Department’s long-standing practice of issuing opinion letters to employers and employees regarding application of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The...more
The Senate Health, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee on March 22, 2017, held confirmation hearings on the nomination of R. Alexander Acosta, President Donald Trump’s pick for Secretary of Labor.
Acosta was introduced...more
The appeal regarding the validity of the federal overtime rule will not be fully briefed until May 1, 2017, according to an order issued by the Fifth Circuit on February 22, 2017, granting an unopposed request by the...more
2/22/2017
/ Appeals ,
Delays ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Expedited Actions Process ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Secretary of Labor ,
Time Extensions ,
Trump Administration ,
Unpaid Overtime ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
Before the election the Department of Labor asked the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to expedite its appeal regarding the validity of the DOL’s Final Rule, which increased the salary level for the white collar exemptions. ...more
In the latest round in the litigation between 21 States, led by the State of Nevada, and the Department of Labor regarding the Final Rule, the State Plaintiffs filed their appeal brief today with the Fifth Circuit, urging the...more
The U.S. Supreme Court in 2016 granted certiorari in Encino Motorcars, LLC v. Navarro to resolve a circuit split regarding whether “service advisors” at automobile dealerships are exempt from receiving overtime under the Fair...more
1/10/2017
/ Car Dealerships ,
Certiorari ,
Chevron Deference ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Navarro v Encino Motorcars ,
Over-Time ,
SCOTUS ,
Service Advisors ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
When two lawsuits were filed in Texas seeking to block the Department of Labor’s new overtime rule, which more than doubles the required salary level to qualify for the Fair Labor Standards Act “white collar” exemptions, few...more
For more than three hours on November 16, 2016, Obama-appointed Judge Amos L. Mazzant, III, of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas – Sherman Division, heard oral argument on the preliminary injunction to...more