Wage and Hour, Appeals, Economic Realities Test

Court of Appeals Upholds $9.3 Million Award for Nurses Misclassified as Independent Contractors by Healthcare Staffing Agency

Maynard Nexsen on 8/26/2025

Companies often must determine whether to treat workers as employees or independent contractors. Workers who are properly classified as independent contractors are not subject to wage and hour laws requiring overtime pay or...more

Fifth Circuit Provides Positive Guidance on Independent Contractor Classification

FordHarrison on 2/26/2020

Applying the “economic realities” test, the Fifth Circuit (with jurisdiction over federal courts in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas) recently held that a consultant for an oil and gas company was not subject to FLSA...more

FLSA Does Not Regulate 'Spiritual Coercion'

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP on 5/2/2018

The line between volunteer and unpaid labor can be difficult to distinguish. When do people freely agree to donate their time and services, and when are they persuaded or even coerced to do so?...more

Federal court expands use of volunteers under wage and hour law

Bricker Graydon LLP on 5/1/2018

Recently, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals (which covers Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky and Tennessee) held that a church, which ran a for-profit restaurant, did not need to pay its volunteers under the Fair Labor Standards Act...more

Update: Soup, Salvation and Overtime – Sixth Circuit Reverses $400,000 FLSA Verdict

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP on 4/20/2018

Apparently if you are doing the Lord’s work and seek only treasures in heaven, the Fair Labor Standards Act will not guarantee that you receive an earthly reward as well. In a significant ruling that impacts religious...more

Labor Department’s New Approach Is A Game Changer For Student Internships

Fisher Phillips on 3/8/2018

The U.S. Department of Labor rang in the new year by announcing that it will abandon its rigid six-part test for determining whether interns qualify as employees under federal wage and hour law, introducing some much-needed...more

Fourth Circuit Decision Establishes New Six-Factor Test for Determining Joint Employment under the FLSA

Littler on 2/22/2017

On January 25, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit established a new six-factor test to determine whether two or more entities are joint employers for purposes of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). ...more

Fight On? Student-Athletes Press for Employee Status Despite Seventh Circuit Rejection

Foley & Lardner LLP on 1/3/2017

Bong … Bong … Bong … that is the death knell you thought you heard following the decision from the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals (covering Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin) in Berger v. NCAA earlier this month. After that...more

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