FLSA

Tree service trimmed OT wages, now must pay up

01/07/2019

Sidelines Tree Service has agreed to settle U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division charges that it cheated employees out of overtime pay and violated the Fair Labor Standards Act’s record-keeping requirements.

Lubbock, Texas firm fined for short-changing pre-shift pay

01/04/2019

Llano Logistics in Lubbock, Texas, will pay 629 workers $244,208 in back pay and liquidated damages.

Seek expert legal advice when setting up complicated compensation structures

01/04/2019

Employers that try to simplify the FLSA overtime system by paying a set amount per week for all hours worked can easily get tripped up.

Travel reimbursements could be FLSA wages

01/02/2019

Under IRS rules, employers that provide a payment for travel expenses in lieu of requiring proof that workers incurred expenses don’t have to withhold taxes or contribute to and remit Social Security taxes based on the payment. But the Fair Labor Standards Act treats such payments differently.

DOL serious about nursing mother protections

12/20/2018

The U.S. Department of Labor has issued one of its first milk-expression break citations on the Trump administration’s watch.

New DOL opinion letters address wage-and-hour issues

12/18/2018

The DOL issued four opinion letters in early November in response to employer requests. All the letters dealt in some way with how to comply with the FLSA.

New York City enacts new lactation room requirement

12/18/2018

Effective March 19, 2019, employers with at least four employees must have a lactation policy and lactation room available for employees.

$3.2 million bill for contractor misclassification

12/12/2018

A recent settlement shows just how much the U.S. Department of Labor dislikes seeing employers game the system by trying to classify employees as independent contractors.

Worker demands back overtime? Investigate and, if warranted, pay up

12/06/2018

If an employer pays overtime incorrectly, it may be liable for up to two years of unpaid overtime, doubled as a penalty. But if an employer’s overtime mistake is “willful,” that liability reaches back another year, adding to the cost.

Prepare for new labor and employment laws