A federal judge in Texas has vacated the U.S. Department of Labor’s final rule increasing the salary thresholds for the “white collar” overtime exemptions under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and did so on a nationwide...more
The U.S. Department of Labor (the “DOL”) recently announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, which could make at least 3 million more lower-wage workers overtime-eligible....more
The Department of Labor has again updated its guidance regarding the Families First Coronavirus Response Act ("FFCRA"). How we got here...more
9/21/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Exemptions ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
New Guidance ,
New Rules ,
Paid Sick Leave ,
Small Business ,
Wage and Hour
The Department of Labor (“DOL”) has updated its guidance yet again regarding the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which went into effect on April 1, 2020. We wrote about the new law here. We also wrote about the DOL’s...more
Short of a successful (but highly unlikely) appeal, the Obama-era overtime rule is now officially no longer. That rule would have required employers to pay employees a little more than $47,000 annually to qualify under one of...more
9/1/2017
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Lack of Authority ,
Minimum Salary ,
Non-Exempt Employees ,
Obama Administration ,
Over-Time ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Summary Judgment ,
Trump Administration ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
The Fourth Circuit recently ruled that a general contractor was the joint employer of employees of its subcontractor for purposes of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Salinas v. Commercial Interiors, Inc. has broad implications...more
Just before Thanksgiving, a Texas federal court judge issued an injunction blocking the closely-watched new federal overtime rule from taking effect as scheduled on December 1, 2016. As expected, the DOL is not going quietly...more
Employers across the country woke up this morning to news that a Texas District Court judge has blocked the DOL’s overtime rule from taking effect on December 1, 2016. This represents a stunning turn of events for employers....more
As all HR professionals and employment lawyers know (even those currently living under rocks), the Department of Labor’s final overtime rule is scheduled to go into effect on December 1, 2016 – less than two weeks from now. ...more
With the 9th Circuit’s late summer anti-class action waiver decision, the circuit split widened over the issue of whether employers can require employees, through an arbitration agreement, to waive their rights to bring class...more
11/21/2016
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Enforceability ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Section 7
One of the few “wins” for employers under the DOL’s new overtime rule was that employers are now allowed to apply “nondiscretionary incentive payments” to meet up to 10 percent of the new salary threshold. This change could...more
5/26/2016
/ Bonuses ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Incentive Compensation ,
Minimum Salary ,
Non-Exempt Employees ,
Over-Time ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
The wait is over! This morning, the Department of Labor announced its Final Rule, which is aimed at expanding overtime eligibility for millions of American workers. At its core, the final version of the rule doubled the...more
The wait is over! This morning, the Department of Labor announced its Final Rule, which is aimed at expanding overtime eligibility for millions of American workers. At its core, the final version of the rule doubled the...more
The United States Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that Tyson Foods employees could use representative evidence to establish liability and damages for class certification purposes. The opinion gives the plaintiffs’ class action...more
3/26/2016
/ Admissible Evidence ,
Calculation of Damages ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Class Members ,
Doffing ,
Donning ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
SCOTUS ,
Statistical Sampling ,
Tyson Foods v Bouaphakeo ,
Unpaid Overtime ,
Wage and Hour
Last summer the Second Circuit issued an important decision that identified the proper test for determining whether an employer properly classified an individual as an unpaid intern. The decision was a victory for employers...more
A Note from the Editors -
If January was a harbinger of what's in store for 2016, it's sure to be a busy year for HR professionals and employment attorneys. And Employment Matters is certainly here to guide you along the...more
2/12/2016
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Campbell Ewald v Gomez ,
Class Action ,
Class Representatives ,
Employee Privacy Rights ,
EU ,
European Court of Human Rights ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Mootness ,
Non-Disparagement Provisions ,
Private Communications ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Rule 68 ,
SCOTUS ,
Wellness Programs
An unaccepted Rule 68 Offer of Judgment for complete relief does not moot a plaintiff’s individual and class action claims said the Supreme Court on Wednesday. The decision in Campbell-Ewald Co. v. Gomez is welcome news for...more
1/23/2016
/ Campbell Ewald v Gomez ,
Class Action ,
Class Representatives ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Injunctions ,
Mootness ,
Offer of Judgment ,
Rule 68 ,
SCOTUS ,
Settlement Offer ,
TCPA
The so-called “manager rule” addresses a concern that employers may face a “litigation minefield” if a manager whose very job duties required them to report discrimination complaints could later sue for retaliation if they...more
The DOL is at it again. First it was the highly-anticipated release of the proposed overtime rules a few weeks ago, and now the Department’s Wage and Hour Division has issued an “Administrator’s Interpretation” – its first...more
7/17/2015
/ Administrative Interpretation ,
Classification ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Economic Realities Test ,
Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Independent Contractors ,
Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA) ,
Misclassification ,
Wage and Hour
A Federal Appeals Court recently confirmed that under certain circumstances, parties may privately settle and release claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act. A generic release contained in a settlement agreement won’t do...more
The Department of Labor has released its long-awaited notice of proposed rulemaking updating the Fair Labor Standards Act’s white collar overtime exemptions. The DOL released the proposed rule on Tuesday morning and will...more
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear two cases during its Fall 2015 term that could further transform the wage and hour class action landscape. We briefly discuss those two cases below.
Gomez: The Effect of Rule 68...more
6/29/2015
/ Campbell Ewald v Gomez ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Genesis Healthcare Corp. v. Symczyk ,
Offer of Judgment ,
Rule 68 ,
SCOTUS ,
TCPA ,
Tyson Foods ,
Tyson Foods v Bouaphakeo ,
Wage and Hour
As has been widely reported, President Obama has ordered the US Department of Labor to updated existing federal regulations on overtime in order to account for the changing nature of the workplace and to allow both workers...more
This week, in Greathouse v. JHS Security, Inc., the Second Circuit Court of Appeals held that employees may pursue a Fair Labor Standards Act retaliation claim premised upon an oral complaint to their employer – a clear...more
This week, the Supreme Court disappointed many employers by declining to determine whether the Fair Labor Standards Act does or does not provide employees with a non-waivable substantive right to bring a collective action. ...more