FLSA

Agenda tips DOL’s hand on after-hours technology and pay

06/30/2015

Tucked inside the Obama administration’s Semiannual Regulatory Agenda this spring was a Department of Labor initiative worth watching: A Wage and Hour Division effort to study how employees’ after-hours use of technology might affect wages and overtime pay.

Cross-departmental work? Remember OT rules

06/29/2015

Large employers usually have several departments, and it’s common for employees to do work in more than one. But some payroll systems may not catch it when cross-departmental work exceeds 40 hours in a week, separately recording hours worked in each department.

Not posting FLSA notices means unlimited liability

06/22/2015

An employer that normally would have been liable for three years’ worth of willful FLSA violations may be on the hook for violations stretching back 11 years.

California: Uber driver an employee, not a contractor

06/19/2015

Sharing-economy employers, take note: Your innovative business model doesn’t mesh well with traditional interpretations of employment law. The latest evidence: The California Labor Commissioner’s determination that an Uber driver is an employee, not an independent contractor.

Court: No FLSA poster equals unlimited liability

06/11/2015

For want of a thumbtack, the Fair Labor Standards Act’s statute of limitations didn’t run. In a case involving a domestic worker’s pay dispute but equally applicable to any employment situation, a federal appeals court ruled that failing to display the Department of Labor’s minimum wage poster meant an employer was on the hook for years of wage-and-hour violations.

Retailers react to white-collar OT prospects

06/09/2015

Retail and restaurant employers will likely respond to the upcoming rewrite of white-collar overtime rules by converting salaried managers to hourly employees, cutting pay, reducing benefits and bonuses and reducing workers’ hours, according to a new study by the National Retail Federation).

Minimum wage wars move to local level

06/05/2015

Los Angeles is the latest municipality to stop waiting for federal or state action on minimum wage legislation. The L.A. City Council voted 14-1 to raise its current $9 an hour minimum wage to $15 by 2020, a move that will give a pay raise to half the city’s workforce.

New DOL rules could blacklist fed contractors

06/02/2015

Current and prospective federal contractors that violate employment laws could be barred from doing business with Uncle Sam if new proposed rules from the Department of Labor go through.

DOL touts efforts enforcing FLSA in Texas oil fields

05/29/2015

The U.S. Department of Labor claims a recent enforcement initiative in the oil fields of West Texas and Eastern New Mexico has resulted in workers recovering $1.3 million in lost wages. The DOL Wage and Hour Division oil and gas initiative began in late 2014.

Beware legal risks of raising employees’ titles in lieu of pay