Risk Prevention Strategies: Avoiding Costly FLSA Missteps
What Should I Do If My Employer Failed to Pay Me Wages?
A hotel manager was recently held individually liable for violations of federal wage and hour law under a broad definition of “employer.” Although the ruling applied to a unique set of facts – including that the manager was...more
I have blogged about these automatic deduction cases, but they nevertheless keep popping up with disturbing regularity. In another example of this phenomenon, employees have sued a Michigan healthcare employer, alleging...more
When litigating claims under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), litigants are aware of long-standing case law that essentially awards a prevailing plaintiff with their attorneys’ fees absent extraordinary...more
In Naranjo v. Spectrum Security Services, the case’s second appearance before the California Supreme Court in two years, the Supreme Court confirmed that an employer does not incur civil penalties for failing to report unpaid...more
On Monday May 7, the California Supreme Court confirmed, in Naranjo v. Spectrum Securities Services, Inc., S279397.PDF (ca.gov), that penalties authorized under Labor Code Section 226 (“Section 226”) for “knowing and...more
The California Supreme Court concluded that the “good faith” defense applies to claims seeking to impose penalties under California Labor Code section 226. An employee must show that an employer’s failure to comply with...more
On March 28, 2024, in Sutton v. Jordan’s Furniture, Inc., the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) upheld a Massachusetts Superior Court decision finding the furniture retailer’s commission-based compensation scheme...more
Last week, a Washington healthcare company was ordered to pay 33,000 workers $98.3 million in damages in a class action related to its meal break and timeclock rounding practices. The vast majority of the awarded damages...more
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, applying Louisiana law, has held that an insurer does not need to cover a monetary judgment rendered in favor of two former employees of the insured...more
In Boyer v. Callidus, 2024 ONSC 20, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice found that an employee was entitled to $1.8 million in damages for unpaid vacation, bonuses, and stock options, because the terms of the relevant...more
On January 3, 2024, the defendant in Heppard v. Dunham’s Athleisure Corporation filed an interlocutory appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, arguing that the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District...more
In Marino v. CVS Health, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York found defendant CVS Health’s “arbitration of workplace legal disputes policy” and related arbitration agreement compelled arbitration of...more
Nearly a decade ago, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued three decisions clarifying and tightening the standard for asserting plausible overtime claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) in the...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Employers frequently struggle with questions around the compensability of certain activities, classification of employees, and how to structure their policies to avoid Fair Labor Standards Act violations. ...more
A recent Ninth Circuit panel held that Hyatt employees who were “laid off” in March 2020 were entitled to payment of their accrued vacation time immediately, even though the employees were not officially terminated until June...more
In Perry et al. v. City of New York, the Second Circuit upheld a large jury verdict in favor of a collective of workers regarding off-the-clock work. In doing so, the Court reaffirmed the principle that employers will...more
Alter ego liability is again the flavor of the day... As previously covered, the alter ego doctrine allows a court to disregard a corporate entity (including LLCs) and hold the individual owners liable for claims against...more
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
Employers that fail to pay required minimum wage or overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act are liable for the amount of missed wages: doubled, plus attorneys fees, costs, and interest. The court can award such damages...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: California Labor Code section 1102.5 protects employees who disclose what they believe to be violations of the law. The Supreme Court of California has ruled that such disclosures are protected even if the...more
On April 14, 2023, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (Ellis, J.) declined to conditionally certify a collective of USA Today sports website editors, ruling that the familiar two-step Fair...more
The California Court of Appeal recently issued an opinion that brings good news to employers in connection with California's draconian penalties for late payment of final wages....more
Earlier this week, the California Court of Appeal reached a decision that may ease employers’ worries when presented with a wage and hour lawsuit. California’s plaintiff-friendly laws provide avenues for plaintiffs to...more
Federal and state wage and hour litigation has been an area of concentration for Industrial/Organizational Psychologists for decades. These cases address alleged discrimination in wage-based employment practices such as...more
In Camp v. Home Depot, a Sixth Appellate District panel recently found against an employer that—although its electronic system recorded employee work-time to the minute—rounded daily totals to the nearest quarter-hour for...more