Although the employer’s pay system for its auto repair technicians was complicated and at times redundant, it nevertheless constituted a bona fide commissions compensation method subject to exemption from the overtime pay...more
In an action anticipated since it issued its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in March, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) officially has withdrawn the Joint Employer Final Rule published during the previous administration. The...more
The Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a new Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), again seeking to regulate the circumstances under which an employer may pay a tipped employee a direct wage below the minimum wage. The NPRM...more
Unsurprisingly, on May 5, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) withdrew its Independent Contractor Final Rule, published in the last days of the previous administration.
The Final Rule, which never took effect, would...more
On April 28, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced that it will further delay, until December 31, 2021, the effective date of portions of the previous administration’s Tip Regulations Final Rule under the Fair...more
Because the plaintiff failed to allege any facts supporting his claim that his former employer acted willfully in failing to pay him overtime, he was not entitled to the FLSA’s extended, three-year statute of limitations....more
While deciding to make effective some portions of the Tipped Regulations Final Rule published in the final weeks of the former administration, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has proposed further delay and consideration of...more
On March 11, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued Notices of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRMs) to withdraw the Joint Employer and Independent Contractor Final Rules published during the previous administration...more
In April 2020, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that paying an employee a set amount for each day he works (i.e. on a “day rate” basis) does not satisfy the “salary basis” component...more
On March 2, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) formally delayed the effective date of the Independent Contractor Final Rule, from March 8, 2021 to May 7, 2021. The Final Rule, published during the last two weeks of the...more
As expected, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has formally delayed the effective date of the Tip Regulations Final Rule, from March 1, 2021 to April 30, 2021. The Tip Regulations Final Rule, issued in late December 2020,...more
Making good on President Biden’s campaign promise, the House of Representatives has included in its $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief bill, known as the “American Rescue Plan Act of 2021,” revisions to the Fair Labor Standards...more
One day after President Biden entered office, the White House issued a memorandum directing all agencies to review, and consider delaying, any rules that had been issued by the former administration but that were not yet...more
On January 29, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced that it was abandoning the Payroll Audit Independent Determination (PAID) program, effective immediately. PAID was introduced in 2018 as a self-audit program,...more
On January 19, 2021, eight states (Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania), along with the District of Columbia, filed a lawsuit seeking to enjoin the Tip Regulations...more
In 2017, then-Department of Labor (DOL) Secretary Alexander Acosta, appointed by former President Donald Trump, announced the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) would be reviving the practice of issuing Opinion Letters, seeking to...more
In 2020, federal and state laws regulating wages and hours of work continued to change and develop, expanding in some areas, and contracting in others. In “2020 Wage & Hour Developments: A Year in Review,” we look back on...more
1/18/2021
/ Collective Bargaining ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ,
Fluctuating Workweek ,
Independent Contractors ,
Joint Employers ,
Minimum Wage ,
Misclassification ,
Opinion Letter ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
State Labor Laws ,
Tip Credit ,
Tip-Pooling ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division has formally released a Final Rule defining “independent contractors” under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The regulation provides that “an individual is an...more
On the last day of 2020, the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) ushered out the year with two new Opinion Letters. These may be the final two Opinion Letters of the Trump Administration and perhaps...more
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has issued its long-awaited Final Rule addressing who may share tips under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the circumstances under which employers may use a tip credit.
The Final...more
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a new proposed regulation setting forth the proper standard for determining a worker’s status as an “independent contractor” under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)...more
With specific, limited exceptions set forth in Section 207(e) of its regulations, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires that all compensation provided to a non-exempt employee must be included when determining the...more
Continuing the practice it reinstituted during the current administration, on August 31, 2020 the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage Hour Division (WHD) issued four new Opinion Letters, addressing a variety of topics. That...more
On May 20, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a Final Rule expressly permitting employers to provide additional pay, such as bonuses, commissions, or premiums, to employees when utilizing the “fluctuating...more
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) withdrew its interpretative rules setting forth the types of businesses either not qualifying, or only possibly qualifying, as “retail or service establishments” when determining whether a...more