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).
White House Lays Out Flexible Workplace Blueprint for Private Sector
With the German victory in the 2014 World Cup now in the books and baseball finishing up its All Star break (Go Tigers—Cabrera with a 2-run HR, Scherzer with a W!), I wanted to turn my attention this week to the latest push by the White House to encourage change in the private sector workplace
Department of Labor Sets FLSA Regulation Deadline for November 2014, Final Regulations Unlikely to Arrive Before Spring 2015
Recently, we told you that President Obama had issued a Presidential Memorandum to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) instructing its Secretary to update regulations regarding overtime protection for workers under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the federal law that establishes minimum wage and overtime pay requirements. The regulations have not been revised at
Senate Confirms First Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division Administrator in Decade
The Senate voted narrowly on Monday to confirm David Weil as administrator of the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD). The narrow 51-42 majority followed a similarly narrow 12-10 party-line committee vote in December. The WHD is the DOL division that, among other duties, implements and enforces the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
President Seeks Additional Funding for DOL to Clear Case Backlog
Although unlikely to be passed in its current form, President Obama’s Fiscal Year 2015 budget request to Congress allocates an additional $2 million of the Department of Labor’s requested $1.8 billion budget so that the Department’s Office of Administrative Law Judges (OALJ) can hire additional personnel primarily to deal with a massive backlog of cases.
Perez Confirmed as Labor Secretary; Obama Names New NLRB Nominees; Another Appellate Court Overturns Recess Appointments
The last three days have brought a flurry of important developments for employers. On Wednesday, the Fourth Circuit joined the D.C. Circuit (Noel Canning) and Third Circuit (New Vista Nursing) in overturning President Obama’s January 2012 recess appointments of Members Richard Griffin, Terrence Flynn (who has since resigned), and Sharon Block
Obama Nominates New Labor Secretary
This morning, President Obama formally nominated Thomas Perez to be the next Secretary of the Department of Labor. Mr. Perez, an assistant U.S. Attorney General, will replace outgoing Secretary Hilda Solis. Mr. Perez’s nomination is widely supported by the labor community.
Mary Kay Henry, the president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), stated on
Louisiana Joins the DOL’s Misclassification Initiative
Louisiana is the latest State to sign a Memorandum of Understanding and join forces with the U.S. Department of Labor to combat employee misclassification. These Memorandums of Understanding with state government agencies arose as part of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Misclassification Initiative, with the goal of preventing, detecting and remedying employee misclassification. Louisiana is
“Right to Know” Rule Not Likely in 2012
For roughly the last two years, the U.S. Department of Labor has been contemplating (some would say “threatening”) revisions to the recordkeeping regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act that would require an employer who classifies an employee as exempt to prepare a written justification of the basis for the exemption. This document would have
DOL Coordinates With IRS, States On Independent Contractor Misclassification
Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Labor held a ceremony at which Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis signed a memorandum of understanding with the Internal Revenue Service to “improve departmental efforts to end the business practice of misclassifying employees in order to avoid providing employment protections.” The DOL also signed or has agreed to