The Department of Labor (“DOL”) today rescinded its prior guidance that made the tip credit unavailable to tipped employees who spend more than 20% of their time performing allegedly non-tip generating duties. The 20%...more
For the first time, a federal appellate court has acknowledged its obligation to give a “fair reading” to all Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) overtime exemptions, as the U.S. Supreme Court stated in Encino Motorcars, LLC v....more
Focusing on education to ensure compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act, on August 28, 2018 Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta announced the creation of the DOL’s new Office of Compliance Initiatives (OCI). That office...more
In furtherance of a practice reinstituted earlier this year, on August 28, 2018 the DOL’s Wage Hour Division (WHD) issued four new opinion letters covering FLSA topics. The current administration began that practice when, in...more
The Restaurant Law Center, a public policy affiliate of the National Restaurant Association, has filed suit against the Department of Labor and its Wage and Hour Division, seeking to declare unlawful the DOL’s 2012 revision...more
The U.S. Supreme Court term that ended June 2018 included decisions on many topics important to workplace law, including class action waivers in employment arbitration agreements, public-sector “agency shop” arrangements, and...more
6/29/2018
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
CNH Industrial N.V. v Reese ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Digital Realty Trust Inc v Somers ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Epic Systems Corp v Lewis ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Janus v AFSCME ,
Masterpiece Cakeshop Ltd v Colorado Civil Rights Commission ,
Murphy v National Collegiate Athletic Association ,
Navarro v Encino Motorcars ,
NLRA ,
Over-Time ,
PASPA ,
Reversal ,
Same-Sex Marriage ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sports Betting ,
Travel Ban ,
Trump v Hawaii ,
Union Dues
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
After years of litigation, including two trips to the U.S. Supreme Court, on whether service advisors who work in an automobile dealership are exempt from overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Court finally...more
4/4/2018
/ Appeals ,
Automotive Industry ,
Car Dealerships ,
Congressional Intent ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Legislative History ,
Navarro v Encino Motorcars ,
Over-Time ,
Reversal ,
Salespersons ,
SCOTUS ,
Service Advisors ,
Statutory Construction Test ,
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
Concluding that the unstructured time spent by the plaintiffs between arriving at the oil refinery and the beginning of their shifts was not “integral and indispensable” to their duties erecting scaffolds at the refinery, the...more
The federal minimum wage has remained stagnant at $7.25 an hour since 2009. In the absence of an increase to the federal minimum wage, an increasing number of states, cities, and other municipalities have enacted statutes...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
After effectively “punting” on the issue last year, the U.S. Supreme Court has again granted certiorari to resolve a circuit split regarding whether “service advisors” at automobile dealerships are exempt from receiving...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
As Hurricane Harvey continues to wreak havoc on Houston, Texas, and surrounding areas, undoubtedly, many businesses have been damaged or destroyed, while others have closed temporarily for safety and security reasons. These...more
Former cosmetology students are not employees entitled to pay under the FLSA and various state laws, the Seventh Circuit holds, rejecting the Department of Labor’s six-factor test but declining to adopt any bright-line test....more