At 12:53 a.m. on Saturday March 14, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the “Families First Coronavirus Response Act” with bipartisan support. The bill was a product of lengthy negotiations between House Majority Leader...more
3/18/2020
/ China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Crisis Management ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
Pending Legislation ,
Public Health ,
Sick Leave ,
Sick Pay ,
Trump Administration ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
All of us are, of course, concerned about what “Coronavirus Disease 2019” (COVID-19) will mean for each of us, our families, schools, workplaces, and our communities. As employers, we must hope for the best, but prepare for...more
3/6/2020
/ Best Practices ,
Business Continuity Plans ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Crisis Management ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Medical Leave ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Public Health ,
Risk Management ,
Sick Leave ,
State Labor Laws ,
Telecommuting ,
Unpaid Leave ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
The U.S. Department of Labor announced its final rule setting a new salary threshold for the “white collar” (executive, administrative, and professional) overtime exemptions. As of January 1, 2020, employees in these...more
A small business client called on January 2. “Happy New Year,” he said. “What’s the new minimum wage? I have to re-program my payroll.”...more
When you hire new employees at your company, do you ask applicants what they currently earn, or what they were paid in past positions? Regular readers of Working Together may recall that nearly a year ago we discussed a bill...more
What happened to the Obama administration’s proposed new rule on employee eligibility for overtime pay? Seven months into the Trump administration, do we know what to expect? Recent events provide some clarity on these...more
May a disloyal employee keep the compensation his employer paid him, even while he was betraying his employer’s trust? In a recent case, the Connecticut Supreme Court said “yes, at least in some circumstances.” Here’s the...more
This is a story about grammar (specifically, the “serial comma”) and the overtime law of the State of Maine. The U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals recently decided whether certain fresh food delivery drivers are entitled to...more
Judge Amos Mazzant, the President Obama-appointed federal judge sitting in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, issued a decision on November 22, 2016, granting an emergency injunction against the United...more
It’s September 6, the day after Labor Day, symbolically the end of summer, traditionally the first day of school, and psychologically the beginning of the homestretch of the year.
It’s also 85 days until December 1,...more
It’s September 6, the day after Labor Day, symbolically the end of summer, traditionally the first day of school, and psychologically the beginning of the homestretch on the year....more
9/6/2016
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Minimum Salary ,
Minimum Wage ,
Misclassification ,
Non-Exempt Employees ,
Over-Time ,
Standard Duties Test ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
As a general proposition, under Connecticut law an employer has the right to determine the wage that will be paid for work performed by an employee, subject to basic requirements such as minimum wage or overtime. For wages...more
On May 17, 2016, the United States Department of Labor finally released its long-awaited new rule for determining which American workers are entitled to overtime pay – time-and-a-half for hours above forty in any workweek –...more
A panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has ruled that parties may not stipulate to dismiss cases brought under the Fair Labor Standards Act without court approval. This ruling may make it more...more
9/8/2015
/ Bargaining Power ,
Confidential Information ,
Dismissal With Prejudice ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ,
Low-Wage Workers ,
Rule 41 ,
SCOTUS ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Wage and Hour
When I talk to businesspeople about the legal differences between employees and independent contractors, I often offer the electrician who comes to the office to fix a wiring problem as the paradigmatic independent...more
8/24/2015
/ Administrative Interpretation ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Economic Realities Test ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Enforcement ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Popular ,
Uber ,
Wage and Hour
Late last spring I posted on this blog about the pitfalls for employers of unpaid internships, often offered to young people during the summer months, or to students or recent college graduates as “pre-entry-level” positions....more
1/8/2015
/ Class Action ,
Classification ,
Conde Nast ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fox Searchlight Pictures ,
Hearst ,
Judicial Settlement Agreements ,
Unpaid Interns ,
Wage and Hour
I’ll bet you assume that the hard-working driver who delivers your packages and letters shipped by Federal Express is a FedEx employee. After all, he or she wears a FedEx uniform, drives a FedEx truck, uses a FedEx handheld...more
Readers of this blog will be aware that the misclassification of employees as independent contractors has been a major concern of state and federal authorities for several years. Employers don’t provide workers compensation...more
Yesterday (January 27), the Supreme Court issued a ruling that defines the word “clothes” for purposes of a federal statute that allows employers and unions to bargain over pay for time spent by employees “changing clothes or...more