FLSA

DOL recoups millions for independent contractors

08/22/2024

The DOL determined that the technicians were highly dependent on the company for work that was directed and controlled by the company.

Travel time & money: Lessons for employers

08/20/2024

Tracking working time and reimbursing nonexempt employees for their traveling expenses can be difficult tasks. Fail to do both and you’ll end up in the middle seat on a long flight to nowhere. Two cases illustrate.

DOL wage-theft trial ends in $38.8 million judgment against Pennsylvania nursing homes

08/05/2024

In one of the nation’s largest-ever wage-recovery judgments, a federal court in Pennsylvania has awarded $35.8 million in overtime back wages and liquidated damages to 6,000 current and former workers employed by the operators of 15 nursing homes and assisted-living facilities in western Pennsylvania that willfully denied them overtime pay.

Prepare to pay for time spent waiting to log in, sign off

07/26/2024

A federal appeals court recently reminded a lower court that the FLSA requires paying hourly workers for all time spent working on their employer’s behalf—unless pre- and post-shift activities are so inconsequential that they constitute de minimis time.

Paging all humans: The FLSA & the FMLA still need you

07/17/2024

Artificial intelligence has taken firm hold in American workplaces. By far, the focus is on how generative AI will either streamline tasks or supplant employees altogether. The Department of Labor isn’t buying the employees-will-soon-be-replaced talk. Human oversight is still necessary to the proper functioning of the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act, the DOL concluded.

Student athletes may be employees under the FLSA

07/17/2024

These student athletes aren’t claiming to be independent contractors or volunteers, two categories of service providers who are exempt from the FLSA and the tax code. They’re not in a work-study program as most of us understand it. Nevertheless, both the FLSA and the tax code recognize two types of paid work—work as an employee or an independent contractor.

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.

Payroll pro & con: To auto-deduct for meals or not

06/20/2024

The reasoning behind auto-deducting meal breaks is simple: Employees no longer need to think about it and you no longer have to deal with those who forget to clock in and out. In theory, auto-deducting eliminates wage overpayments and faulty regular rate and overtime calculations. But there are issues you need to resolve before you buy into auto-deductions.