From time to time we field questions about the order in which deductions for various employee benefits (e.g., 401(k) plan elective deferrals and insurance premiums for welfare benefit plan benefits) should be taken from an...more
How many readers have confronted the following scenario: Employer provides a paid meal break to its employees (for ease of application, we are going to suggest the paid meal break is 30 minutes in length); Employees...more
The answer to this question depends – is the employee exempt or non-exempt? And, if non-exempt, will the deduction reduce her compensation below the minimum wage or affect her overtime compensation?...more
Most are familiar with Bill Murray’s classic comedy, “Groundhog Day,” in which egotistical weatherman Phil Connors repeatedly re-lives the date of February 2, 1993. At first, Connors relishes replicating the same events each...more
The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) establishes minimum wage and overtime requirements, period. The FLSA does not explicitly require that employers cover all work-related costs, nor, does it do so by specifically...more
It’s hard to keep up with all the recent changes to labor and employment law. While the law always seems to evolve at a rapid pace, there were an unprecedented number of changes each month in 2017—and if January is any...more
Technology seems to be advancing faster than we can keep up. These advances impact the employer community as well—even regarding basic things such as how, when, and in what manner wages are paid. Take two recent examples...more
On January 5, 2018, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) Wage and Hour Division re-issued 17 previously withdrawn DOL Opinion Letters addressing over a dozen topics under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). The DOL originally...more
In late June 2017, the United States Department of Labor (DOL) announced it would be reinstating Opinion Letters issued by its Wage and Hour Division, which was a practice that had ceased back in 2010. This announcement is...more
On October 17, 2017, the Tenth Circuit overturned the ARB’s decision in favor of complainant for want of protected activity under SOX. Dietz v. Cypress Semiconductor Corp., No. 16-9529 (Oct. 17, 2017). This decision rolled...more
On November 6, 2015, amendments to the New York Labor Law (NYLL) that expanded permitted deductions from wages for overpayments and advances against wages, among other items, will expire. In 2012, New York expanded the...more
Q. We offer free lunches to our food service employees. Can we count the cost of these lunches as part of our employees' compensation? A. The short answer is yes, but as we all know, there's no such thing as a free...more
The NY DOL’s final regulations regarding an employers’ ability to reduce employee wages for overpayments recently took effect. Consistent with the DOL’s proposed regulations, which we discussed here, the final regulations...more
As we detailed in a previous posting (available here), in September 2012, Governor Cuomo signed into law new legislation which permits employers to make additional deductions from employees’ paychecks. Among other things, the...more
As we previously posted, last year New York amended New York Labor Law §193 (“NYLL”) to expand the scope of permissible deductions an employer may make from an employee’s paycheck. Even though the amendments became effective...more
The New York State Department of Labor (“NYSDOL”) issued final regulations last week governing how employers may make certain types of deductions from employee wages authorized under the New York Labor Law. For years, there...more
The regulations provide employers with specific guidelines for wage deductions, including those for overpayments and advances. On October 9, the New York Department of Labor’s (NYDOL’s) final wage deduction regulations...more
On October 9, the New York State Department of Labor’s final wage deduction regulations took effect. Those regulations are codified at 12 N.Y.C.R.R. 195, and are available here. The final regulations are very similar to the...more
Last week, the New York State Department of Labor issued regulations to implement the 2012 amendments to New York’s wage deduction law. The amendments were enacted to facilitate employer deductions of overpayments and...more
The New York Department of Labor (NYDOL) issued final regulations, effective October 9, 2013, which explain how and when employers may make deductions for wage overpayments due to mathematical or clerical errors and for...more
Almost one year after the New York Labor Law was amended to expand the scope of permissible wage deductions, on October 9, 2013, the New York Department of Labor has finally issued regulations that allow employers to take...more
The New York State Department of Labor ("DOL") recently published its long-awaited proposed regulations ("Proposed Regulations") pertaining to the newly expanded categories of permissible wage deductions pursuant to the New...more
Last week, the New York Department of Labor (“DOL”) published proposed regulations governing the new categories of permissible wage deductions in Section 193 of the New York Labor Law that took effect in November 2012. The...more
The New York Department of Labor (NYDOL) finally posted proposed wage deduction regulations on its website. ...more