In the run-up to the holidays, Congress rushed a Continuing Resolution (CR) to President Obama’s desk entitled the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015. The omnibus spending bill, nicknamed “CRomnibus,” avoided another government shutdown and funded most federal agencies (save for the Department of Homeland Security) through the federal government’s 2015
DOL Sets February 2015 Deadline for New FLSA “White Collar” Overtime Exemption Regulations
UPDATE (5/27/2015): The DOL sent draft FLSA regulations to the Office of Management and Budget on May 5, 2015 for approval prior to their public release. For the most current updates on the status and content of these new regulations, please see our series of posts on this topic.
Late last month, the Department
If I was Secretary of Labor: Fixing the FLSA with a Safe Harbor
Last week, I answered some of the questions that we have been receiving about the new FLSA regulations, but I saved one that I hear almost everywhere I go: what should the Department of Labor do with the FLSA? Last week, I said “start over.” Of course, that’s not going to happen. Scrapping the
Fear and Loathing in D.C.: More Thoughts and Predictions about the New FLSA Regulations
For most of the year, we have been discussing the upcoming FLSA regulations and what employers can expect related to the white collar exemptions. Recently, the DOL delayed the release of proposed rules, potentially for several months. The DOL’s announcement has raised a host of questions, some of which I discussed with SHRM’s legal
DOL Backs Paid Leave Push in 3 States, D.C. with $500,000 Grant
Recently, we detailed the efforts to push for paid sick leave by state and local governments in light of California’s passage of a statewide paid leave law. Soon after our post, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau Director Latifa Lyles posted an entry on the DOL’s official “Work in Progress” blog, advocating for
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).
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.
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