In a provocative decision in the case known as Swales v. KLLM Transport Servs., L.L.C., No. 19-60847 (5th Cir. 2021), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit broke from the pack by upending the standard two-step...more
In addition to its recent, exigent responsibility of preparing guidance on the protections and relief offered by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (“WHD”) has...more
4/3/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Opinion Letter ,
Rate of Pay ,
Relief Measures ,
Sick Leave ,
Sick Pay ,
Wage and Hour
As the number of U.S. states reporting cases of COVID-19 coronavirus increases, many employers are imposing mandatory work from home (“WFH”) policies to mitigate risk of contamination and ensure business continuity....more
3/11/2020
/ Best Practices ,
Business Continuity Plans ,
China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Crisis Management ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Flexible Work Arrangements ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Non-Exempt Employees ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Public Health ,
Risk Management ,
Telecommuting ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
With the start of the New Year, new state and local minimum wage increases have gone into effect for non-exempt employees across the country.
...more
Upsetting what many considered settled precedent, a California Court of Appeal has held that a mandatory service charge may qualify as a “gratuity” under California Labor Code Section 351 that must be distributed to the...more
11/13/2019
/ Appeals ,
Breach of Implied Contract ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Distribution Rules ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Food Service Workers ,
Labor Code ,
Labor Regulations ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Service Charges ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Statutory Violations ,
Tips ,
Unjust Enrichment ,
Wage and Hour
On September 24, 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued its highly anticipated final rule regarding amendments to the overtime exemption criteria for the administrative, executive, and professional (“EAP”)...more
10/1/2019
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EAP ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Final Rules ,
Minimum Salary ,
New Rules ,
Over-Time ,
State and Local Government ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
On September 10, 2019, the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court for the First Department ruled in Vega v. CM & Associates Construction Management, LLC that “manual workers” who receive full pay but are paid “late”...more
9/30/2019
/ Cause of Action Accrual ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Failure To Pay ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Late Payments ,
Liquidated Damages ,
Minimum Wage ,
Non-Exempt Employees ,
Pleading Standards ,
Private Right of Action ,
Railroads ,
State Labor Departments ,
State Labor Laws ,
Underpayment ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Wage and Hour
Arguably, the very first workplace regulation, dating back thousands of years, was one involving wage and hour issues—the mandatory day of rest. While much has changed over the great many years since then, the centrality of...more
10/2/2018
/ Arbitration Agreements ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Epic Systems Corp v Lewis ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Independent Contractors ,
Navarro v Encino Motorcars ,
Opinion Letter ,
Tipped Employees ,
Unpaid Overtime ,
Wage and Hour
On December 7, 2016, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit resolved a split among district courts within the circuit regarding whether liquidated damages may be awarded under both the Fair Labor Standards Act...more
Employers in the financial services industry are faced with an escalating number of employment law compliance challenges, but the news is not all bad. For example, although pleading standards for Sarbanes-Oxley Act (“SOX”)...more
3/1/2016
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Cybersecurity ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Executive Compensation ,
Financial Services Industry ,
OFCCP ,
Popular ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
SEC Examination Priorities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Wage and Hour ,
Whistleblowers
The hospitality industry is particularly fertile ground for a wide variety of wage and hour issues, which continue to plague management through steadily increasing federal and state department of labor investigations and...more