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Wages & Hours

Wage & hour: Heed DOL’s $12 million warning to the hospitality industry

12/11/2023
The Department of Labor has been targeting restaurants and other hospitality-industry employers for aggressive enforcement of the Fair Labor Standards Act. It has issued fines and penalties and ordered restaurants to shut down until they pay up. That’s a powerful incentive for employers to settle lawsuits.

Employer survey: 4% pay raises projected in 2024

12/08/2023
Though down from the actual average increase of 4.4% in 2023, wage projections remain well above the recent trendline. Since 2014, salary budgets have grown an average of 3% per year.

Tick tock, watch work off the clock

11/21/2023
Would you know compensable working time if you saw it? If you pay for noncompensable working time anyway, you can put conditions on your payment. Two cases illustrate.

Employers expect smaller pay raises in 2024

11/06/2023
U.S. employers plan to raise their compensation budgets by 3.5% for merit increases in 2024, and 3.9% for their total salary-increase budgets for non-union employees, according to the Mercer consulting firm’s latest QuickPulse U.S. Compensation Planning Survey.

To pay or not? Rest periods versus meal periods

10/19/2023
Do you know the difference between a rest period and a meal period? It’s an important distinction because one does not count as working time, while the other does.

Court shoots down one objection to the new OT rule

10/19/2023
Robert owns 14 fast-food restaurants in Texas, all employing managers classified as exempt. That means he must pay them a salary that meets the minimum salary level set when the Department of Labor last updated the overtime rules: $684 per week.

Employees worry their pay isn’t keeping up with inflation…

10/16/2023
Over the last year, the impact of inflation and economic uncertainty has increased the financial stress employees feel. Only 42% of those polled rated their financial wellness as good or excellent, the lowest rate since 2010.

Factor overtime rule into 2024 labor budget calculations

10/13/2023
Business leaders surveyed earlier this fall by the Mercer consulting firm said they plan to slow wage growth in 2024, perhaps to offset any increases coming later if the overtime rule goes into effect.

Legal arguments take shape as business groups oppose new overtime rule

09/25/2023
The Department of Labor’s proposed rule to raise the white-collar overtime salary threshold to $55,068—up from the current $35,568—will almost certainly face legal challenges in coming months. Business advocacy groups and some conservative politicians have vowed to sue to prevent the rule from taking effect.

Walmart reverses course on pay, offering some new hires $1 less per hour

09/25/2023
New warehouse employees now earn about $1 less per hour than co-workers who were hired just a few months ago. Now their pay ranges from $13 to $19 per hour, depending on location.