Employers often ask, “Can this worker be an independent contractor?” The answer is often unclear due to the different tests for employee versus independent contractor status, which vary between federal circuit courts and from...more
Remember last January and the salary threshold change the Department of Labor rolled out for salaried exempt and highly compensated employees under the FLSA? As the end of the year approaches, you might need to revisit the...more
12/18/2020
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Final Rules ,
Highly Compensated Employees ,
Obama Administration ,
Over-Time ,
Salaried Employees ,
Unpaid Overtime ,
Wage and Hour
Whether a worker is an employee covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (and potentially entitled to overtime pay or benefits) or an independent contractor who is not covered has been the center of an ongoing legal...more
10/5/2020
/ Comment Period ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Regulations ,
Misclassification ,
Proposed Rules ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Wage and Hour
In case you missed it, below are a few of the most recent employment law updates that may have gotten lost in the onslaught of the 24-hour news cycle.
EEOC Issues Opioid Accommodation Guidance -
While employers have...more
9/22/2020
/ Ban the Box ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Governor Cooper ,
Governor Kemp ,
Governor Lee ,
Health Care Providers ,
Lactation Accommodation ,
Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) ,
Opioid ,
OSHA ,
State and Local Government ,
State Legislatures ,
Substance Abuse ,
Written Notice
The U.S. Department of Labor issued a Field Assistance Bulletin on June 24, 2020, announcing that it will not routinely assess pre-litigation liquidated damages as part of the settlement process for claims under the Fair...more
For those of you craving a non-COVID-19 issue to chew upon, the Department of Labor opened the floodgates of debate by withdrawing the partial lists of establishments that could either be “recognized as retail” or “having no...more
A February 2020 jury verdict against county music star Martina McBride’s production company highlights – albeit indirectly – the perils of unpaid internship programs and the issues they can cause under the Fair Labor...more
2/27/2020
/ Compensatory Damages ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Internships ,
Jury Verdicts ,
Motion for Summary Judgment ,
Multi-Factor Test ,
Primary Beneficiary Test ,
Retaliation ,
Unpaid Interns ,
Wage and Hour ,
Whistleblowers
When the Department of Labor (DOL) withdraws one of its previous opinion letters and issues a new interpretation, should a court to change its ruling? No — not according to a federal judge in Arkansas....more
The Department of Labor recently issued a final rule about how to calculate an employee’s regular rate of pay for overtime purposes under the Fair Labor Standards Act. As everyone knows, under the FLSA you have to pay...more
1/13/2020
/ Compensation & Benefits ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Final Rules ,
Labor Regulations ,
New Rules ,
Over-Time ,
Rate of Pay ,
Wage and Hour
Here’s to hoping all our readers have a great New Year’s, but do not forget that the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division is changing the threshold amount of salary necessary to meet the numerous overtime exemptions....more
When do your business relationships make you a joint employer? Fortunately, the DOL recently published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking with changes to regulations regarding when two or more entities should be treated as...more
12/20/2019
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Franchisee ,
Franchisors ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Joint Employers ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Proposed Rules ,
Subcontractors ,
Wage and Hour
Yesterday, the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division issued a final rule regarding the threshold amount of salary necessary to exempt an employer from the obligation to pay overtime. The threshold since 2004 was $455...more
9/25/2019
/ Bonuses ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Final Rules ,
Highly Compensated Employees ,
Incentive Compensation ,
Minimum Salary ,
Over-Time ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
Sometimes employment laws can make the common person’s head spin. That certainly could be the case for a recent Fifth Circuit opinion examining the “highly compensated” regulatory exemption from the overtime requirements of...more
9/5/2019
/ Appeals ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employment Litigation ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Highly Compensated Employees ,
Independent Contractors ,
Minimum Salary ,
Over-Time ,
Summary Judgment ,
Unpaid Overtime ,
Wage and Hour
Last week, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a decision in Cordúa Restaurants, Inc., that permits employers to create and enforce arbitration agreements with collective waivers in direct response to Fair Labor...more
When is sleeping working? According to a recent DOL Opinion Letter, probably not when it occurs off duty in a sleeper berth of an over-the-road truck.
A trucker’s job is to haul a load from Point A to Point B, which often...more
The wait is over and the new overtime regulations are finally here. Although it will take some time to digest the more than 500 pages of the Final Rule, based on the DOL’s fact sheet, here is what you need to know...more
In a kind of bizarre turn of events, a woman in Houston, who testified about her duties in an FLSA misclassification case, was convicted for perjury. That’s right—she has pled guilty for testifying under oath that she...more