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
When is a Commute Not a Commute? In a Company Car (Well, Maybe)!
In my last post, I outlined the “normal” commuting case after Congress passed the Employee Commuting Flexibility Act (ECFA). The ECFA clarified the applicability of the Portal-to-Portal Act to the payment of wages to employees who use employer-provided vehicles. Clarification was necessary because of two conflicting opinion letters on the topic issued by the DOL
Heigh-Ho, Heigh-Ho, It’s Off to a Non-Compensable Commute We Go
If only “Heigh-Ho” from Disney’s Snow White had been written sometime in 1938, rather than 1937, maybe my FLSA-influenced version would have had a chance. O.k., on second thought, probably not. But today, one of the more convoluted areas of the FLSA relates to the compensability of travel time. In general, travel time for non-exempt
Under the FLSA, the NLRB Says Even “Non-Concerted” Activity Can Be Concerted
My colleagues and I have noted repeatedly over the past couple of years that the National Labor Relations Board takes a very expansive view of the National Labor Relations Act, even (and perhaps especially) when the case does not involve a union or any union activity at all. Recently, an NLRB Administrative Law Judge issued
FLSA Overtime, Minimum Wage Lawsuits Continue to Skyrocket
My colleagues and I talk regularly about the ever-increasing number of wage and hour cases alleging violations of minimum wage and overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). These cases aren’t going away, which means that I will probably have plenty to blog about over the next year. According to PACER, litigants
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
Keeping Payroll Well-Rounded (and FLSA compliant!) [Wage & Hour FAQ]
Whether you call it “rounding” or the “7/8ths rule” or have no word to describe it at all, rounding may be of central concern for employers, both in day-to-day operations and in litigation. Rounding is the practice of adjusting time clock punch times within specific bounds. For example, if your employees punch in for work
Wage and Hour Due Diligence Solutions in the M&A context
As I mentioned yesterday, in order to avoid costly lawsuits or DOL enforcement actions, FLSA and state wage and hour due diligence should be a substantial part of the overall due diligence process in any deal involving a company with employees, regardless of whether those employees will be employed by the buyer.
Here are
Third Circuit Applies More Relaxed Federal Standard to Successors in FLSA Cases
Guest Blogger: Lindsey Marcus
The Third Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, recently became the third appellate court to adopt the federal common law standard for successor liability in a Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) claim. The decision likely means that successor employers will find it