In recent years, a number of states and municipalities have adopted measures that restrict employers’ ability to base a new hire’s starting salary on what they made in their prior job. In the past, it was common for...more
4/5/2024
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Pay ,
Equal Pay Act ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Salary/Wage History ,
Wage and Hour
We have all faced situations where a manager, coworker, or client calls or emails seeking a response outside of normal work hours. While most of us view these interruptions as an unavoidable result of technological progress,...more
Some employers ask applicants about how much they made at a prior job in order to establish their compensation for the new position. A number of states have recently adopted legislation that prohibits or limits the ability of...more
In recent years, more workers have filed claims for unpaid overtime based on occupations that are potentially subject to specialized exemptions under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Some of this litigation involves the...more
A recent New York Times article described growing use by employers of training repayment agreements, or TRAs. A TRA requires an employee to repay training expenses incurred by the employer if they quit before a certain period...more
In recent years, the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division has increased enforcement activities in the home healthcare industry. On Tuesday, DOL announced recovery of over $500,000 from an Alabama agency found to have...more
In order to prevail in an Equal Pay Act claim, the plaintiff must demonstrate that she was paid less than a comparable male employee. When the two employees have distinctly different job duties and responsibilities,...more
The Fair Labor Standards Act’s executive exemption applies to managers whose primary job function involves the supervision of two or more full time equivalents. In recent years, a large number of retailers, hospitality...more
When we review an employer’s overtime exemption classifications for various jobs, we frequently raise questions over whether employees qualify as exempt administrative workers under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Many...more
Last week, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced a proposal to increase the salary requirement for employers to claim certain exemptions from the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime and minimum wage requirements to...more
9/8/2023
/ Comment Period ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Highly Compensated Employees ,
Minimum Salary ,
Over-Time ,
Proposed Rules ,
Salaried Employees ,
Threshold Requirements ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
For decades, the Department of Labor (DOL) has recognized the impracticability of requiring Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) nonexempt employees to clock in exactly at the beginning of their scheduled shifts. In most...more
8/18/2023
/ Affirmative Defenses ,
Class Action ,
De Minimis Claims ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Non-Exempt Employees ,
Rounding ,
Timekeeping ,
Underpayment ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Wage and Hour
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides covered employees with up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave, if they or a close family member have certain medical conditions. Last week, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals...more
In recent years, persons or groups unhappy about a new federal law or regulation have chosen to file suit in a selected federal district court, often in Texas, seeking a nationwide injunction to prohibit the new measure from...more
7/21/2023
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Food Service Workers ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Minimum Wage ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Tip Credit ,
Tipped Employees ,
Tips ,
Wage and Hour
On Tuesday, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) overturned a Trump-era precedent, changing the test used to determine whether workers seeking protection under federal labor laws are employees or independent contractors....more
In 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division issued new regulations dealing with the Fair Labor Standards Act’s tip credit. The tip credit allows employers to pay a $2.13 hourly minimum wage to tipped...more
5/5/2023
/ Appeals ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Food Service Workers ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Reversal ,
Tip Credit ,
Tipped Employees ,
Tips ,
Wage and Hour
In a recent EmployNews article, we discussed the recent publicity over child labor violations across the U.S., frequently involving immigrant minors. Earlier this month, the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division...more
On Wednesday, in a 6-3 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed a lower court decision finding that a highly compensated employee who was paid a day rate did not qualify as exempt from the overtime requirements of the Fair...more
Under the federal Equal Pay Act (EPA), employers cannot discriminate on the basis of gender against an employee who performs work substantially equal to a colleague. However, as demonstrated by a new decision from the Fourth...more
Many employers faced with large potential overtime costs elect to implement the fluctuating workweek pay plan for non-exempt workers. Under Department of Labor regulations, employers can pay a guaranteed salary for all hours...more
When determining whether an employee qualifies for a minimum wage and overtime exemption under the Fair Labor Standards Act, employers often quickly rule out most of the available exemptions. For example, the executive...more
Employee medical leave issues involving rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) present some of the most complex and dangerous legal situations for employees. Employers...more
Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case that may determine whether employers can claim the overtime exemption under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for highly compensated workers who are not paid...more
11/18/2022
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Helix Energy Solutions Group Inc v Hewitt No 21-984 ,
Highly Compensated Employees ,
Oral Argument ,
Over-Time ,
SCOTUS ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
Over the past several years, the federal Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division has focused enforcement efforts on assisted care and related facilities. DOL alleges that some of these employers fail to pay...more
On Tuesday, the federal Department of Labor (DOL) released proposed rules intended to clarify when workers are employees as opposed to independent contractors under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The FLSA governs...more
Over the years, we have periodically published EmployNews articles on the impact of bonuses or other incentive compensation on the regular rate used to calculate overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)....more