The U.S. Department of Labor has officially revived its Payroll Audit Independent Determination (PAID) program. Designed to help employers proactively resolve FLSA issues—and now, for the first time, certain FMLA...more
7/29/2025
/ Audits ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Enforcement ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Risk Management ,
Settlement ,
Voluntary Self-Audit ,
Wage and Hour
The freshly enacted “One Big Beautiful Bill” introduces two above-the-line tax deductions for tips and overtime wages. While these deductions offer potential savings for eligible workers, they come with new compliance...more
7/11/2025
/ Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Policies ,
Food Service Workers ,
IRS ,
New Legislation ,
One Big Beautiful Bill Act ,
Over-Time ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Tax Deductions ,
Tax Reform ,
Tipped Employees ,
Tips ,
Wage and Hour
The DOL’s Wage and Hour Division just scrapped its policy of seeking liquidated damages (double damages) in FLSA investigations. Why? Because it probably didn’t have the statutory authority in the first place, and doing so...more
7/9/2025
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Enforcement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Field Assistance Bulletins ,
Liquidated Damages ,
New Guidance ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Secretary of Labor ,
Settlement ,
Wage and Hour
In a welcome development for employers navigating complex federal employment laws, the U.S. Department of Labor has announced the re-launch of its opinion letter program across several agencies, including the Wage and Hour...more
A federal district judge has vacated the U.S. DOL’s 2024 rulemaking increasing the minimum salary employers must pay to exempt executive, administrative, and professional employees. That minimum now reverts to an annualized...more
11/19/2024
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Final Rules ,
Highly Compensated Employees ,
Labor Reform ,
Minimum Salary ,
Non-Exempt Employees ,
Over-Time ,
Salaried Employees ,
Unpaid Overtime ,
Vacated ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
Seyfarth Synopsis: On September 11, 2024, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held in Mayfield v. U.S. Department of Labor that the Secretary’s salary test for evaluating overtime exemptions are valid...more
9/13/2024
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Final Rules ,
Highly Compensated Employees ,
Minimum Salary ,
Non-Exempt Employees ,
Over-Time ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Salaried Employees ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
The DOL’s revised overtime exemption rule took effect yesterday, July 1, 2024. While several lawsuits are challenging the rule, a last-minute injunction was ultimately granted for only one employer: the State of Texas. The...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: With the DOL’s new overtime exemption rule weeks from taking effect, employers must consider the impacts of reclassifying exempt employees. Some potential impacts are obvious, others not so much. Proactive,...more
6/10/2024
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Labor Reform ,
Non-Exempt Employees ,
Over-Time ,
Reclassification Rules ,
Salaried Employees ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
Yesterday, the U.S. DOL unveiled its final overtime rule. The rule significantly increases the minimum salary for so-called “white collar” employees to be exempt from the federal FLSA’s overtime pay requirements. This...more
4/24/2024
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Final Rules ,
Highly Compensated Employees ,
Labor Reform ,
Minimum Salary ,
Over-Time ,
Proposed Rules ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
Just days before Labor Day, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) unveiled its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”), aimed at revising the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime exemptions for executive, administrative, and...more
8/31/2023
/ Biden Administration ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Minimum Salary ,
Non-Exempt Employees ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Over-Time ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Wage & Hour Division (WHD) ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
Seyfarth Synopsis. Businesses familiar with FLSA litigation are aware of the frustrating ease with which some courts have turned single-plaintiff cases into large-scale collective action proceedings. But the tides are...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Today the U.S. Department of Labor issued its draft new interpretive regulation (or NPRM) attempting to define employee versus independent contractor status under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The NPRM...more
Throughout 2021, our dedicated Trade Secrets, Computer Fraud & Non-Competes Practice Group hosted a series of CLE webinars that addressed significant trade secret and restrictive covenant issues facing clients today. This...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On December 10, 2021, the White House and U.S. Department of Labor confirmed their plan to propose new rules to increase the salary threshold for exempt employees under the FLSA and “modernize” the...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Last week, the U.S. DOL issued a final rule limiting use of the FLSA’s tip credit for tipped employees who sometimes perform non-tipped work. Declining a more flexible approach advocated by many employers...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Though it may sound esoteric, the question of whether “last mile” drivers fall within the Federal Arbitration Act’s transportation worker exemption bears tremendous consequence. If they are exempt, they...more
Gone are the days when the U.S. DOL’s Wage & Hour Division (“WHD”) invited employers to proactively identify and collaborate with the Division to fix their wage and hour missteps. Closed is the chapter in which employers...more
Seyfarth Synopsis. Democrats in the U.S. House and Senate have reintroduced a bill to increase the federal minimum wage to $15 for virtually all non-exempt workers. While the “Fight For Fifteen” has made several trips to...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On January 8, the U.S. DOL’s Wage & Hour Division issued an opinion letter confirming the exempt status of Account Managers at a life sciences manufacturing company under the FLSA’s administrative...more
Seyfarth Synopsis. In the final hours of 2020, the U.S. DOL’s Wage & Hour Division issued an opinion letter containing guidance on the compensability of time commuting to the office, or tending to personal matters, for...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Some states are known for setting high legislative bars with respect to employment rights and protections (looking at you, California). The State of Georgia isn’t one of them. Earlier this month, however,...more
8/20/2020
/ Breastfeeding ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Lactation Accommodation ,
New Legislation ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
Seyfarth Synopsis: Chicago’s Fair Workweek Ordinance goes into effect on July 1. The law will require covered employers to provide covered employees ten days’ notice of their work schedule. Save for certain exceptions,...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage & Hour Division has entered the final phase of issuing a new rule concerning the fluctuating workweek (FWW) method of compensation under the FLSA. ...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The U.S. DOL has suspended its “continuous workday” rule for employees working from home as a result of COVID-19. This development has major implications for how small businesses may schedule and...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: What a difference a couple of weeks make. The COVID-19 outbreak has forced change upon all aspects of society, and the workplace is no exception. Many workers who escaped layoffs or furloughs are now...more