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Wages & Hours

Pay disparities: The impact of hiring higher-paid employees

07/17/2024
Pay compression—hiring new employees at higher pay rates than incumbents—is a common issue faced by HR professionals. It is exacerbated when labor markets are tight, as they are today. It is also a known culprit driving gender inequities.

Despite federal court’s narrow restriction, start complying with new OT rule

07/01/2024
Ruling on the first of two lawsuits seeking injunctions to block the rule, Judge Sean D. Jordan of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas decreed June 28 that Texas state government agencies do not have to comply with the overtime rule. All other employers subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act do.

GOP senators attempt to block overtime rule

06/24/2024
Republican Sens. Tommy Tuberville (Ala.) and Mike Braun (Ind.) on June 17 introduced a resolution calling for the repeal of the Department of Labor’s final rule raising the overtime salary threshold for white-collar employees.

Lawsuits pending: Will new OT rule go into effect July 1?

06/21/2024
A new U.S. Department of Labor rule scheduled to go into effect July 1 will raise the overtime salary threshold for white-collar employees to $43,888 per year, up from the current $35,568 per year. However, a trio of lawsuits could derail those plans. All ask federal courts to prevent the overtime rules from taking effect, at least temporarily.

He said, they said: No records puts employer in a messy place

06/20/2024
Lawsuits for unpaid overtime aren’t always so cut-and-dried. They can come in layers, with each layer costing you more. The 5th Circuit ruled that an employer could be liable for unpaid overtime if it misclassified workers as independent contractors, even though the workers had scant evidence of their unpaid overtime.

Employer groups sue to block DOL’s new overtime rule

05/24/2024
A coalition of trade associations has filed a sweeping lawsuit asking a federal court in Texas to postpone the rule’s July 1 effective date, stop the rule from taking effect and forbid the DOL from “taking any action whatsoever” to implement the rule.

Employees reclassified? Time to start training managers

05/20/2024
You say you have already responded to the Department of Labor’s new overtime salary threshold by reclassifying some white-collar employees as overtime-eligible nonexempts? Congratulations! Now comes the hard part—training managers in the finer points of the Fair Labor Standards Act before the new rules take effect on July 1.

The OT clock is ticking: Will you be ready for the new rule by July 1?

05/20/2024
Some employers are responding to the U.S. Department of Labor’s new white-collar overtime salary threshold rule by reclassifying some exempt employees into overtime-eligible nonexempts. In other cases, they’re planning to avoid additional overtime by raising pay above the new salary threshold. How far along are you? You now have just over one month to comply with the Department of Labor’s new rules, which take effect July 1. Here’s what you need to do now.

Avoid the wage-and-hour mistake that just cost an employer $229 million

05/17/2024
A jury recently reminded a Washington state employer that rounding time in a way that deprives employees of pay—even if it’s just pennies—can trigger a class-action lawsuit with a huge payout.

The new overtime rule: Factor bonuses into exempt salaries

05/13/2024
Employers can satisfy up to 10% of the new white-collar salary threshold by paying nondiscretionary bonuses, incentives and commissions.