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FLSA

Employee has routine gripe about timekeeping? That’s not necessarily protected activity

01/11/2013
Employees who question your timekeeping process may be setting you up for an FLSA lawsuit. How you respond may make the difference between winning and losing. If you promptly fix what turns out to have been an innocent mistake, the court probably won’t consider the original complaint protected activity.

Richardson Doubletree Hotel settles wage-and-hour suit

01/09/2013
The Doubletree Hotel in Richardson has agreed to pay 112 employees $102,592 to settle charges it violated the Fair Labor Standards Act.

DOL says ‘bah, humbug’ to Christmas lights installer

01/09/2013

Some may see this as part of the Obama administration’s alleged “war on Christmas.” In reality it was a simple enforcement action. The DOL recently played the Grinch by filing a lawsuit against a Dallas company that installs and removes Christmas lights.

First Republic settles FLSA suit for more than $1 million

01/09/2013
San Francisco-based First Republic Bank has agreed to pay $1,009,644 in overtime back wages for 392 First Republic Bank employees in New York, California, Connecticut, Mas­­sa­­chu­­setts and Oregon.

Queens contractors plead guilty to not paying workers

01/09/2013

The owners of Onward Construction in Queens have pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of failing to pay their employees. The company quit paying its seven workers in March 2011. In all, they owed workers $18,680 by the end of September 2012.

$1M settlement in San Francisco bank’s FLSA case

01/03/2013
San Francisco-based First Republic Bank will pay $1,009,644 in overtime back wages to 392 employees in California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and Oregon. A DOL investigation revealed the bank incorrectly classified workers as exempt from the FLSA.

When does extra work become a separate job?

12/27/2012

Q. We have an hourly employee who does clerical work during her normal 40 hours. She would also like to start cleaning the office two nights per week. Since these are two separate jobs, would she get overtime or could it be a separate payment?

Winter turns up the heat on wage-and-hour compliance

12/21/2012
Winter weather—and the delays and closures that sometimes accompany it—can make wage-and-hour compliance more difficult. If employees have a hard time getting to work, here’s the FLSA compliance guidance you need.

DOL: Raleigh restaurant must pay back wages

12/19/2012
Raleigh’s Dos Taquitos restaurant must fork over almost $50,000 in back pay to 26 employees the U.S. Department of Labor says were shortchanged.

Do we have to pay for unapproved overtime?

12/18/2012

Q. We have a policy requiring employees to get written permission before they are allowed to work any overtime. However, I have one employee who comes in early and stays late without approval. Must I pay him overtime?