In many ways, federal immigration laws and various labor and employment laws, including the FLSA, may appear fundamentally at odds with each other: prohibiting work by undocumented workers on one hand, but allowing them to recover damages when they are not paid work on the other. We have examined this issue with state laws in
Supreme Court Rejects Notice and Comment Rulemaking Requirement for Agency Interpretations
In a case we labeled one of the “cases to watch” this term, a relatively unified Supreme Court decided in Perez v. Mortgage Bankers Association that a federal agency does not need to engage in notice-and-comment rulemaking pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) before it can significantly alter an interpretive rule of an
DOL Wage and Hour Division Announces Fiscal Year 2014 Recovery of $240 Million From Employers
Last week, Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division (WHD) Administrator Dr. David Weil, who we have profiled in the past, announced on the DOL’s blog that WHD recovered more than $240 million dollars from employers on behalf of workers during fiscal year 2014, which ended last September. This total was down about 4%
Employee’s Failure to Report Off the Clock Work Not a Total Defense Says 11th Circuit
Last summer, we highlighted an example of how good recordkeeping practices can result in a favorable decision. In the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan case, the employer successfully defended an “unauthorized overtime” claim where an employee worked off the clock against Kaiser’s policies and without its knowledge. A recent Eleventh Circuit decision demonstrates the limits of
Predictable Scheduling: The Next FLSA Frontier?
As if the DOL’s new Fair Labor Standards Act regulations weren’t enough to fill your plate this year, a recent interview (subscription required) that the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division Administrator David Weil gave to BNA’s Daily Labor Report has added to what portends to be a monumental shift in wage and hour law.
In
The Pay Period Leap Year Redux: Don’t Leap If It Isn’t Your Year!
At the end of last year, we discussed the Pay Period Leap Year and what it means for employers. If your first weekly paychecks will issue on Thursday, January 1, 2015, you will have a fifty-third pay period on December 31, 2015. If your first bi-weekly paychecks will issue on Thursday, January 1, 2015
Furious Lobbying Continues Ahead of New FLSA Regulations
If you read this blog regularly, you know that since last spring, we have been telling you about what to expect from the new Fair Labor Standards Act regulations. The regulations were delayed, but what we expect hasn’t changed, as I explained in November. According to the Fall 2014 Agency Rule List, the
Is Your Volunteer Really an Employee? The Answer Might Surprise You [Part 2]
In our last post, we looked at the rules governing volunteers at for-profit entities. As we discussed, for-profit organizations have almost no latitude to accept volunteer services. However, nonprofit employers face a more relaxed regulatory scheme under the FLSA when it comes to volunteers. Unlike their for-profit brethren, nonprofit employers can accept volunteer services
Is Your Volunteer Really an Employee? The Answer Might Surprise You [Part 1]
Over the past year or so, we have discussed the Fair Labor Standards Act’s application to both paid interns and unpaid interns, as well as independent contractors. One area we have covered briefly in the past, but not explored in depth, is the issue of volunteers. If you have been reading along
Employment Law Blog Carnival: Awards Season Edition
If you missed the Golden Globes, and you can’t wait for the Oscars or the Razzies, you always have the Employment Law Blog Carnival for January! As your fearless emcee, let me first thank the #ELBC family for letting me host this month. You have no idea what you have done are kind