Last month, I wrote about the Obama Administration’s 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. Since then, DOL Secretary Perez has spoken publicly about
FLSA Revisions Won’t be Quick or Easy
Recently on Twitter, I commented that revising the FLSA regulations won’t be quick or easy. Speaking of Twitter, if you’re not following @WageHourInsight yet, why not? I find lots of interesting tidbits every day that don’t make it here to the blog, and you can follow along with some of the more free-wheeling conversations HR professionals have on the very same topics we discuss here.
My comment on Twitter should come with the added caveat: if they’re revised correctly. Merely increasing the minimum salary (the focus of the Secretary’s recent blog post) for the white collar exemption is not enough. Want some examples? DOL Secretary Perez referred to the Family Dollar case as an example of where the “primary duty” test revisions by the Bush administration swept up far more employees than he believes the FLSA intended. Need another? Tip credits. Continue Reading FLSA Revisions Won’t be Quick or Easy
Q&A: Executive Order Increasing Minimum Wage for Federal Contractors
Guest Blogger: Sunghee W. Sohn
On February 12, 2014, President Obama increased the minimum wage for federal contractors and subcontractors by an Executive Order to $10.10 per hour. This announcement comes on the heels of 13 states and 4 cities that also raised their own state and local minimum wages in 2014. Effective January 1, 2015, the federal contractors’ minimum wage will be the highest minimum wage in the country.
Which federal contractors are subject to the new minimum wage?
The Executive Order states federal contractors who receive new contracts on or after January 1, 2015 will be responsible for paying the new minimum wage. In addition, only contractors who win new contracts for procurement of services or construction, services covered by the Service Contract Act, concessions, and services in connection with federal property or lands will be subject to the new minimum wage. The government is expected to issue regulations by April 12, 2014 that will include three exclusions from the requirement. It is still unclear as to what classification of federal contractor or work will be excluded from the Executive Order. Employers who believe they will be impacted should begin to analyze and prepare their budgets, payroll, benefits and, for some, collective bargaining obligations in light of the order.Continue Reading Q&A: Executive Order Increasing Minimum Wage for Federal Contractors
Obama Raises Minimum Wage for Federal Contractors
In his fifth State of the Union speech, President Obama announced that he planned to issue an executive order raising the minimum wage for workers under new federal contracts to $10.10 per hour, up from the current federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour and higher than the $9.00 per hour rate the president sought
Minimum Wage Increases in 2013
With the New Year comes a minimum wage increase in 10 states: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Missouri, Montana, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. Each of these states has a higher minimum wage rate than the federal minimum of $7.25/hour. Employers in these states are required to pay the higher state minimum wage.
In addition
Another Celebrity Chef Runs Afoul of Tip Pooling Rules
Shortly after my co-author, Bill Pokorny, wrote about celebrity and Iron Chef Mario Batali’s multi-million dollar settlement of a class action tip pooling lawsuit, another celebrity chef here in Chicago was sued for violating tip pooling laws. In March 2012, a lawsuit was filed against Master Chef Graham Elliot by 14 former employees over tip
Recovering Money From Employees Without Violating the FLSA
On June 4, the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division announced that a San Antonio-based car wash company has paid $246,438 in back wages to 308 employees following a DOL investigation. Among other things, the DOL found that the company had taken illegal deductions from employees paychecks for items including uniforms, insurance claims
Are Homeless Hotspots Entitled To Minimum Wage?
If you are a fellow tech junkie, you may already have heard about the flap over a marketer’s use of homeless people as Internet hotspots at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive technology conference in Austin, Texas.
According to the New York Times, BBH Labs, a unit of international marketing agency BBH, recruited 13
Ten Things Small Business Needs To Know About Minimum Wage and Overtime
I read the stories every day: some small business, often a local restaurant or a similar “mom and pop” operation, gets sued or tagged by the Department of Labor for failing to pay minimum wages and overtime to employees. Here’s just one example.
I have worked with a fair number of small and midsize
Starting Computers and Reading E-Mail May Be Compensable Work
Last week, the U.S. Department of Labor announced a settlement with Hilton Reservations Worldwide, LLC, in which the company agreed to pay $715,507 in minimum wages and overtime pay to 2,645 current and former customer service employees in Texas, Florida, Illinois and Pennsylvania. The DOL determined after an audit that the company failed to pay