Wages & Hours

Gender pay gap narrows to 85%

03/24/2025

The pay gap between women and men is shrinking—slightly—according to an analysis of Census Bureau data by the Pew Research Center.

Pay-equity audit? Be prepared to show your work

03/07/2025

To avoid litigation, many employers conduct internal audits to ensure pay equity when employees perform substantially identical work. If you decide to run a pay-equity audit, be prepared to show exactly how you conducted it.

Court says DOL can use salary level to determine exempt classification

03/03/2025

The Biden administration’s bid last year to raise the white-collar overtime salary threshold from $35,568 per year to $58,656 is dead, the victim of a series of court rulings that said the Department of Labor overstepped its authority by mandating such a big jump. However, one aspect of the OT threshold process stands.

Beware potential huge cost of small wage-and-hour mistakes

02/21/2025

When employers don’t understand wage-and-hour laws such as the Fair Labor Standards Act—or worse, when they try to circumvent that law—they can find themselves on the hook for potentially costly penalties. Even relatively small violations can quickly add up.

Obey state & local wage-and-hour laws in addition to the federal FLSA

02/10/2025

Many states and municipalities have wage-and-hour laws that go beyond the mandates of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. The FLSA sets the floor for wage-and-hour rules, but states and cities are free to set standards that are more generous to employees.

Beware high fees associated with alternative pay methods

02/07/2025

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has launched a lawsuit alleging that providers of wage-payment methods are charging exorbitant fees to workers who receive their pay via alternative means such as debit cards.

It’s not just the FLSA—monitor and comply with state and local wage-and-hour laws, too

01/15/2025

Make it a point to monitor state and local wage-and-hour laws and prepare in advance to comply.

What 2025’s salary budgets mean for your organization

12/23/2024

The days of dramatic salary budget increases may be behind us, but don’t expect a return to pre-pandemic norms just yet. Recent data from WTW’s Salary Budget Planning Report reveals that U.S. companies are maintaining their salary-increase budgets at elevated levels, with projections hovering at 3.7% for 2025—just a slight dip from 2024’s 3.8%.

DOL appeals overtime decision and injunction

12/09/2024

The Department of Labor has appealed a ruling by a federal judge in Texas that overturned the Biden administration’s rule that would have made some 4 million more white-collar workers eligible for overtime pay.

A hard day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay

12/05/2024

It sounds Dickensian—some employees with disabilities working under so-called Section 14(c) certificates earn $1 or less an hour. The Department of Labor wants to end this practice. New proposed regulations would, if finalized, phase out these certificates, so employees with disabilities would need to be paid at least the minimum wage.