California Employment News: The Regular Rate of Pay and Risks of Getting it Wrong
#WorkforceWednesday: Joint Employment, Coronavirus, Medical Marijuana Protections - Employment Law This Week®
III-44- A Little Help From The DOL
I read an interesting post by Sara Zorich of Amundsen Davis concerning the year-end wage hour issues that employers must deal with, and I agree with the concepts set forth in that article. There are a number of implications...more
In the wake of the pandemic, some employers — opting for the carrot over the stick — have started offering weekly attendance bonuses to incentivize a return to the office. We have recently seen an uptick in employee-filed...more
I read an interesting post by Frank Shuster of Constangy, Brooks, Smith on the thorny and often misunderstood issue of the “regular rate” and what that concept entails for compliance with the FLSA. Many employers,...more
This is the fourth post in our monthly series of CDF’s Labor & Employment Law Blog providing California employers with wage and hour compliance tips and best practices. In California, non-exempt employees who are not...more
Employers got a rare win in a regular rate case earlier this month. In Lemm v. Ecolab, Inc., the Second District cemented California’s adoption of the percentage of total earnings bonus exemption to the regular rate for...more
Employers in the hospitality industry have been through it all in recent years – from the devastation of the pandemic to ongoing labor shortages to an impending recession. These challenges and dramatic changes have surely...more
When the US Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division published a Final Rule on the regular rate in late 2019, it gave employers the freedom to more easily offer perks and benefits to their employees without running afoul...more
It is black letter FLSA canon that a promised bonus, such as a production bonus, or longevity bonus, must be included in the regular rate of employees who work overtime for the period of time covered by the bonus. This maxim...more
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires that non-exempt employees be paid no less than time and one-half their regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 hours in a workweek. How should an employer calculate an...more
OSHA Turns Up the Heat on Enforcement With New Heat Hazard Emphasis Program- The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has a new enforcement initiative that will target one of the agency’s top priorities: indoor...more
I read an interesting article by Justin Brown and Lisa Schreter of Littler Mendelson about the usage of cryptocurrency as a way of paying employees. As if those of us who advise management did not have enough headaches, this...more
While most California employers are familiar with the “regular rate” from calculating non-exempt employees’ overtime payments, changes in the law make clear that employers will now need to perform the same regular rate...more
Developments during the COVID-19 pandemic have left a dark cloud of uncertainty for employers in the Golden State, and have led to many new claims under the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA). This webinar will cover how...more
Not the best news for employers. The California Supreme Court has issued a decision changing the way employers must compensate employees for missed meal and rest breaks under state law. In Ferra v. Loews Hollywood Hotel,...more
In another detrimental decision for employers, that has retroactive application, the California Supreme Court just complicated calculation of premium pay owed for non-compliant breaks – holding it must include all...more
California employers finally have clearer guidance on the implications of failing to comply with California’s meal and rest break requirements under the Labor Code. Most businesses in California are familiar with meal and...more
Background- The California Supreme Court just made it even more difficult to do business in California. Overturning the ruling of two lower courts, on July 15, 2021, the Court held in Ferra v. Loews Hollywood Hotel, LLC...more
In Ferra v. Loews Hollywood Hotel, LLC, the California Supreme Court has concluded that an employee’s “regular rate of compensation” for meal and rest period premium pay is synonymous with the employee’s “regular rate of pay”...more
Bonuses and their impact on an employee’s “regular rate of pay” have long been a proverbial thorn in the side of California employers. The nondiscretionary nature of most bonuses (even those bonuses employers attempt to...more
For almost 80 years, it has been the law that an overtime-eligible employee whose hours fluctuate from week to week and who agrees to receive a fixed weekly salary covering all hours of work is entitled to a halftime premium...more
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a final rule under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) expressly authorizing employers to offer bonuses, hazard pay, and other premiums to employees whose hours, and regular rate...more
On January 7, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor published three new opinion letters that every employer should review. The first involves an employer’s nondiscretionary bonus payment of $3,000 given to employees who...more
Given the unique characteristics of the health care space, wage and hour compliance can be particularly challenging for health care employers. Round-the-clock operations, staffing shortages and patient demands can create an...more
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division continues to periodically respond to employer questions with regard to particular wage payment issues. Earlier this month, the division issued two new opinion letters...more
On January 7, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor published three new opinion letters – two that address compliance under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and one that addresses compliance under the Family Medical Leave...more