FLSA

$1.25M lesson: Blue collar work is always eligible for OT

07/24/2015

A Texas-based oil and gas drilling company, ROC Services Inc., has settled an overtime lawsuit filed by two workers in Pennsylvania. Two employees testing wells filed suit, alleging the employer’s pay scheme ran afoul of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

DOL redefining ‘independent contractor’

07/21/2015

Continuing its attack on misclassification of employees, the U.S. Department of Labor has released new guidance that clarifies how companies should distinguish between employees and independent contractors.

Employee or independent contractor: DOL’s ‘economic realities’ test

07/21/2015

To classify workers as either employees or independent contractors, the Department of Labor says employers should use this “economic realities” test.

No records, no mercy: Failure to track hours spikes damages

07/17/2015

Taqueria Papa Chano’s will pay $36,000 in back pay and overtime to 11 workers following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD).

Daily pay? DOL stops effort to pad Thai eatery’s profits

07/17/2015

Employees at the Aura Thai restaurant in Long Beach, California will no longer be paid flat daily rates for their work. The practice certainly didn’t curry favor with U.S. Department of Labor investigators.

New DOL guidance cracks down on employers’ use of independent contractors

07/16/2015

Continuing its attack on the misclassification of employees, the U.S. Labor Department released new guidance on July 15 that aims to clarify how businesses should distinguish between employees and independent contractors. The guidance stresses that the FLSA’s definition of “employment” is very broad, and that employers are probably violating the law if they’re treating workers who are integral to the business as independent contractors.

OT pay for checking email? DOL to explore it

07/15/2015

The HR news on everyone’s radar right now is the U.S. Department of Labor’s proposed regulations resetting the salary basis for exempt employees. But that’s not all the DOL is up to. Buried in those proposed regs was an announcement about technology and overtime that was easy to miss, but which may dramatically alter how you pay some hourly employees.

Settlement agreement may not kill OT claims

07/15/2015

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that settling a state court lawsuit over a noncompete agreement (with a payment and an agreement that supposedly included all employment claims) didn’t bar the former employees from suing for unpaid overtime that they claimed was owed to them under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

With new rule in spotlight, what OT really looks like

07/14/2015

The Obama administration’s announcement that it wants to double the salary threshold that makes white-collar managers eligible for overtime pay from the current $23,660 per year to $50,440 comes on the heels of research that says half of America’s salaried employees work more than 40 hours per week.

Court shoots down DOL rule on unpaid interns

07/13/2015

Over the past year, several big companies have forked over big bucks to settle class-action lawsuits filed by interns alleging that they should have been paid for the time they spent getting a firsthand look at how the business world works. Employers felt compelled to settle following a string of high-profile lawsuits that went interns’ way, as well as the very clear Department of Labor rules on intern pay. But now the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals has issued a decision that may show the employers were a bit hasty in capitulating.