• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

FLSA

Use job duties, not title, to set exempt status

08/17/2015

Here’s a reminder that job duties are what determine exempt status under the Fair Labor Standards Act. You cannot classify someone as exempt based just on job title or education. For example, requiring a college degree for jobs that really could be performed without such training and experience doesn’t magically make the employee ineligible for overtime protection.

Employers weigh in on DOL’s white-collar OT rule

08/13/2015
Comments are pouring in to the U.S. Department of Labor at a rate of more than 500 per week in advance of a Sept. 4 deadline for employers and others to register their opinions on a rule that the Obama administration says could make 5 million more white-collar workers eligible for overtime pay if they work more than 40 hours in a week.

What are the legal risks of a 20% salary cut for all?

08/13/2015
Q. We have to reduce salary wages by 20%. The plan is to reduce three of the five departments to 32 hours and adjust their wages accordingly. Is this legal?

Employee or independent contractor? DOL issues new rules

08/13/2015
The U.S. Department of Labor has issued a new set of guidelines that clarify when employers can classify workers as independent contractors.

2nd Circuit says interns don’t necessarily have to be paid

08/13/2015
In two recent cases decided in July, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals has held that in many instances, unpaid interns may not necessarily be employees covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act and the New York Labor Law.

Less than a month for employers to comment on white-collar OT rule

08/10/2015
Unless a requested extension goes through, employers only have until Sept. 4 to submit comments on the U.S. Department of Labor’s proposed rule that would raise the salary threshold that makes white-collar employees eligible for overtime pay.

Is DOL’s Wage & Hour Division looking at you?

08/10/2015
Recent initiatives by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division can cause very real problems, particularly for employers in low-wage industries. They’re a target-rich environment for cracking down on minimum wage and overtime pay violations. What’s the best way to stay out of WHD’s cross hairs?

What are the ‘off-the-clock work’ trouble spots?

07/30/2015
Q. Some of my employees have been griping that a portion of their job duties involves “off-the-clock” work. What are the rules regarding off-the-clock work, and what are some examples?

David beat Goliath, employers sometimes beat the DOL!

07/29/2015
A Texas company has been awarded attorneys’ fees as compensation for aggressive DOL tactics.

San Antonio restaurants must pay $500K for cooking books

07/29/2015
San Antonio-area China Sea restaurants got burned when investigators from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) found the company maintained two sets of books, one showing them in compliance and one telling the true story.