In case there was any question, an Indiana staffing company, Access Therapies, learned late last month that the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) does not absolve employers of their responsibilities under state wage and hour laws. The Southern District of Indiana denied Access Therapies’ motion to dismiss a counterclaims filed by a Philippine citizen who
IRS Announces Impending Tighter Enforcement of Employer-Provided Meals, Fringe Benefits
Internal Revenue Code § 119 allows employers to deduct 100% of the value of meals provided to employees when they are for the convenience of the employer, and they are furnished on the business premises of the employer. Meals provided for “the convenience of the employer” are also excludable from the employee’s taxable income. However
DOL Makes It Official: New FLSA Regulations Delayed Until 2015
Back in late May, we told you that the Department of Labor had released its required Semiannual Regulatory Agenda. The Agenda, which is not binding on the DOL, included several FLSA-related items. Most importantly, the DOL listed its plans to address the “white collar” overtime exemption regulations with proposed rules next month, in
Department of Labor Sends Final $10.10 Minimum Wage Rule to OMB for Approval
Back in February, we told you about President Obama’s Executive Order 13658 increasing the minimum wage for federal contractor employees. Late last week, the Department of Labor’s Wage & Hour Division (WHD) submitted its Final Rule implementing EO 13658 to the White House Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA).
Not Just Minimum Wage: Proposed Paid Sick Leave Laws on the Rise, Too
Earlier this month, we told you about California’s new statewide sick leave law, which Governor Brown subsequently signed. While minimum wage increases seem to be getting the lion’s share of the press right now, proposed paid sick leave laws are on the rise nationwide, too. Connecticut is the only other state that grants paid
White Collar Exemptions: Paying Employees Wages in Equity, Rather than Cash
The saying goes that “Cash is King.” However, entrepreneurs often quickly learn (sometimes in painful ways) that it is Cash Flow that is really King. Run a quick Google search for “accounts receivable” financing or factoring to get a sense of how important that market is for businesses. Working for a telecommunications manufacturer, I can
Second, Third Circuits Tighten FLSA Pleading Standards, Challenge “Barebones” Complaints
Apologies to John Steinbeck, but in some ways, both 2013 and 2014 have been the winters of FLSA plaintiffs’ discontent on the East Coast. Last summer, the Second Circuit (which covers New York, Connecticut, and Vermont) issued a number of decisions tightening pleading standards under the Supreme Court’s decisions in Iqbal and Twombly. In
The “Winner” and Other Losers: What “Winning” That Wage & Hour Suit Might Get You
One of the many songs written by Shel Silverstin became a hit for Bobby Bare back in 1976, and the title of Bare’s album that appears in the headline of this post. “The Winner” tells the story about a man who “won” every fight he had ever fought—with the broken bones, glass eye, arthritis, dislocated knees and more to show for it. Just as in the world of Shel Silverstein’s lyrics, being “The Winner” in a wage and hour lawsuit isn’t always that great.
Before the Labor Day holiday, I read on Twitter (by the way—are you following @WageHourInsight yet?) about the supposed “success” a restaurant had in defending its wage and hour practices at trial. I did a double-take. After reading the Southern District of New York’s opinion in Mendez v. International Food House, I would bet that, like the “Tiger Man McCool” in Shel’s hit song, the restaurant isn’t feeling much like “The Winner” now. Litigating a wage and hour case through trial is rarely going to be a victory by any definition after you consider the costs and time expended (even assuming you prevail).Continue Reading The “Winner” and Other Losers: What “Winning” That Wage & Hour Suit Might Get You
Are Employers Required to Provide Holidays or Holiday Premium Pay? [Wage & Hour FAQ]
Back in July, I discussed ways to handle holiday pay for employees with alternative work schedules. Just before the Labor Day holiday weekend, a client and reader of the blog asked me an even more fundamental question: do we have to provide employees with time off for holidays, whether with or without pay, or
California Becomes Second State to Offer Paid Sick Leave
Over the holiday weekend, California became only the second state (after Connecticut, which began granting paid sick leave in 2012 and just passed more tweaks to it) to guarantee at least some annual paid sick leave for most full and part-time employees. Assuming Governor Brown signs the bill, California’s law would be the tenth