The Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act, commonly known as HB2, continues to generate controversy and confusion. The new law has caused many employers to reexamine their policies with regard to restroom use by employees...more
On March 23, 2016, the federal Department of Labor issued final regulations requiring for the first time that employers disclose the identity of any third-party consultants retained to help the company respond to union...more
As litigation and administrative investigations of misclassification of employees for overtime purposes have grown, employers have increasingly turned to alternative methods of pay intended to reduce their overtime...more
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (which includes North Carolina and South Carolina) is among the minority of federal appellate circuits that restricts the ability of employers and employees to release claims for unpaid...more
Federal Department of Labor regulations have long prohibited employers from requiring that servers, hostesses and bartenders pool a portion of their tips to share with other restaurant employees such as bussers and cooks. For...more
Retail automotive dealerships enjoy a special exemption from the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Section 13(b)(10)(A) of the FLSA provides an overtime exemption for “any salesman, partsman, or mechanic...more
Over the past several years, the healthcare industry and Department of Labor have clashed over the application of the Professional exemption to the Fair Labor Standards Act’s minimum wage and overtime requirements to various...more
Earlier this year, the federal Department of Labor proposed an increase in the minimum salary required to claim exempt status from the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime requirements under its Part 541 “white collar”...more
On September 7, President Obama signed an Executive Order requiring federal contractors to provide employees with a minimum of seven days of paid sick leave per year. The sick pay will be awarded at the rate of one hour for...more
The 60-day notice and comment period for the Department of Labor’s proposed changes to its Part 541 white collar overtime exemption rules has expired. The agency reports receiving over 200,000 comments to the proposed rules,...more
In a major defeat for the home health care industry, on August 21, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court decision that had blocked issuance of an interpretation making thousands of currently exempt workers...more
Last year, the Department of Labor issued final rules significantly reducing employers’ ability to administratively challenge petitions for unionization. The rules significantly restrict the grounds on which employers can...more
When requesting medical certification of the need for FMLA leave, most employers rely on the U.S. Department of Labor’s certification forms. DOL publishes four medical certification forms, based on the specific kind of FMLA...more
Over the past several years, employment lawyers have cautioned their clients with regard to legal risks involved with unpaid internships. As these internships rose in popularity, many of the arrangements failed to meet...more
Employers involved in recent years in legal disputes with the federal government have noticed an increasingly aggressive litigation posture taken by federal agencies. The government makes extraordinary settlement demands, or...more
Last week’s announcement by the Department of Labor of proposed changes to its Part 541 overtime exemption rules appropriately focused on the huge increase to the salary test required for exempt employees. Buried within the...more
In a 5-4 decision announced last Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Obergefell v. Hodges that all states are required to recognize same-sex marriages. This ruling follows the Supreme Court’s 2013 decision in U.S. v....more
7/6/2015
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
DOMA ,
Health Insurance ,
IRS ,
Marriage Equality ,
Obergefell v. Hodges ,
Same-Sex Marriage ,
SCOTUS ,
Spouses ,
US v Windsor
On Tuesday, the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division released its highly anticipated proposed changes to the Part 541 overtime and minimum wage exemption regulations. These rules implement Section 13(a)(1) of the Fair...more
Last year, President Obama issued Executive Order 13,673, entitled the Fair Pay and Safe Workplace Order. The Order requires prospective and active federal contractors to disclose violations of 14 federal labor and related...more
The Department of Labor’s long-anticipated revisions to its Part 541 overtime exemption regulations await Office of Management and Budget review before issuance in proposed form. The new rules follow President Obama’s...more
When taking in your car to the dealership for repairs, you are usually greeted by a service advisor. Service advisors compile information needed for the mechanic to diagnose and repair the vehicle. They also provide cost...more
Companies subject to federal agency regulations sometimes face situations where measures taken to comply with such rules work one day, and then result in violations of those rules the next. Federal administrative agencies...more
3/14/2015
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Mortgage Brokers ,
Notice and Comment ,
Over-Time ,
Perez v Mortage Bankers Assoc ,
Rulemaking Process ,
SCOTUS ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Wage and Hour
Last week, the Department of Labor issued new regulations changing the definition of “spouse” under the Family and Medical Leave Act. Eligible employees may take FMLA leave to care for a spouse with a serious health...more
Last year, President Obama directed the Department of Labor to review and update its so-called “white collar” overtime and minimum wage exemption regulations. The rules apply to executive, administrative and professional...more
Last week, the Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) issued proposed regulations intended to update its procedures for investigating and addressing sex discrimination by federal...more