From time to time, we hear from employers that ask us about the consequence of delaying payroll because of cash flow. The situation is one that I faced over the years in startup businesses, and even a few established ones: the company temporarily runs short of cash because of an unexpected expense or because of
Good Things Come To Those Who Document Good Wage & Hour Practices
Remember those Guinness commercials from the early 2000s with the tagline “Good things come to those who wait” (or maybe, if you predate the no-mess squeeze bottles, you remember the Heinz ketchup commercials with the same tagline from the 1980s)? In wage and hour law, good things come to those who document good wage and
Lesser Known DOL Regulations: “Bona Fide” Terminations for H-1B Workers
It probably falls into the category of cult classic, but one of my favorite movies is 2000’s “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” starring George Clooney. To me, it is the Coen brothers at their finest. Loosely based on Homer’s “Odyssey,” the movie follows Everett McGill (Clooney) and his companions Delmar and Pete in 1930s Mississippi.
Illinois Becomes Latest State to Crack Down on Pay Card Abuses
A few weeks ago, a reader e-mailed me a question about her son:
I’m trying to find out if my son can demand payment by check or direct deposit. He is 16 years old and working at Burger King.
Right now they load his payment onto a VISA card. Needless to say he can use
Are You Secretly Running a Construction Business? State Law Says You Might Be!
I promise that this post isn’t a bad setup to a joke about The Sopranos, the mafia, or being in “waste management.” Late last month, I spoke at a regional meeting of the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association, and many of the WISPs in attendance were surprised to learn that not only were they
Department of Labor Press Release Highlights Heightened Scrutiny of “Per Diem” Payments
Last year, the DOL announced an eye-popping $2 million Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) settlement with Hutco, Inc, a labor services firm, for Hutco’s miscalculation of “per diem” payments to temporary workers and contractors. The DOL found that Hutco “mischaracterized certain wages as ‘per diem’ payments and impermissibly excluded these wages when calculating overtime premiums
Department of Labor Brief Provides More Guidance on Interns
In the past, we’ve explained the DOL’s test for whether employers must pay their interns. Put simply, public employers and qualifying not-for-profit entities do not have to pay their interns. On the other hand, private employers must meet each point in a six-factor test for an internship to qualify as unpaid under the Fair Labor
Nominate Wage & Hour Insights for the ABA Blawg 100
Please excuse the break from our regular content today (I’ll have another post tomorrow as usual—not to worry!) so I can humbly ask for one small favor. Every week, we try to provide the best insights on wage and hour issues that you can find anywhere in blawg-dom. I hope that what we have shared
Captain Obvious Issues Most Obvious FLSA Decision of 2014 (So Far…)
If you have been anywhere near a TV or radio over the past few months, you have probably seen or heard the ads for Hotels.com featuring Captain Obvious. If you’re from the Midwest, and Indiana in particular, it has probably crossed your mind whether the Bob and Tom Show’s Mr. Obvious and Captain Obvious
Defense Appropriations “Wage Theft” Amendment May Bar Employers with FLSA Violations from Defense Contracts
Late last month, the Senate referred the Fiscal Year 2015 Defense Appropriations Act to the Senate Committee on Appropriations for consideration. The House of Representatives passed its version (H.R. 4870) on June 20 with substantial bipartisan support, 340-73, after considering 80 different amendments. Since this is a wage and hour blog, you can