On February 22, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Helix Energy Solutions v. Hewitt that highly compensated employees paid on a daily rate basis, rather than on a salary basis, are not exempt from the Fair Labor Standards...more
This is a day I have been waiting for. The Supreme Court has decided to take on a case in which it will decide whether someone earning more than $200,000 per year, albeit paid on a day rate, can nonetheless meet the FLSA test...more
On May 2, 2022, the Supreme Court of the United States (“SCOTUS”) granted an employer’s petition for review to determine whether highly compensated employees are entitled to overtime compensation under the Fair Labor...more
On May 2, 2022, the United States Supreme Court granted certiorari in Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. v. Hewitt, a case that deals with the Section 13(a)(1) and 29 C.F.R. § 541.601 highly compensated employee exemption...more
The fundamental premise of being an exempt employee is that the worker is paid by a “salary” as that term is defined in the FLSA regulations. Even paying someone an exorbitant amount of money, if it is not (at least in part)...more
The issue of the proper application of the highly compensated employee exemption under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), as it applies to employees paid on a “day-rate” basis in the oil and gas industry, has been a hotly...more
Wage and hour law is full of traps for the unwary. Even compensation practices that are well-accepted across an entire industry can sometimes create huge headaches for employers in the face of a legal challenge....more
In a decision that will impact pay practices in the oil and gas and many other industries in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and beyond, the en banc U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed on Sept. 9, 2021, that...more
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, what is required for an employee to be exempt from overtime pay? Ordinarily, it’s a guaranteed minimum salary. As the Department of Labor has explained, being paid on a “salary basis” means...more
In a significant and favorable ruling for employers, especially in the oil and gas industry, a federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado recently ruled that the plaintiff in Scott v. Antero...more