Recently, I read about a construction contractor in Los Angeles caught in the middle of litigation between its subcontractors and the city, on behalf of the subcontractor’s former employees. According to the employees, the subcontractors had allegedly promised to pay them the prevailing wage for that area of $49.00 per hour, but had only paid
Overtime
Second, Third Circuits Tighten FLSA Pleading Standards, Challenge “Barebones” Complaints
Apologies to John Steinbeck, but in some ways, both 2013 and 2014 have been the winters of FLSA plaintiffs’ discontent on the East Coast. Last summer, the Second Circuit (which covers New York, Connecticut, and Vermont) issued a number of decisions tightening pleading standards under the Supreme Court’s decisions in Iqbal and Twombly. In…
Good Things Come To Those Who Document Good Wage & Hour Practices
Remember those Guinness commercials from the early 2000s with the tagline “Good things come to those who wait” (or maybe, if you predate the no-mess squeeze bottles, you remember the Heinz ketchup commercials with the same tagline from the 1980s)? In wage and hour law, good things come to those who document good wage and…
Can We Define “Full Time” to Mean Something Less Than 40 Hours Per Week?
Q. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), do we have to define “full time” to mean 40 hours per week, or is that left to employers’ discretion? Can we maintain a 40-hour standard for wage and hour purposes, but have a lower threshold for certain benefits, like paid time off accrual or supplementary health…
Looking into My Crystal Ball at the Future of FLSA Regulations
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…
Will Comp Time Become a Reality for the Private Sector?
On May 8, the House of Representatives passed a bill that would allow private sector employers to offer hourly workers the option of taking compensatory (“comp”) time in lieu of paid overtime. The bill seeks to amend the Fair Labor Standards Act to allow private sector employers to offer comp time at a rate of…
Supreme Court Holds that “Mere Presence” of FLSA Collective-Action Claims Cannot Save a Lawsuit Where Named Plaintiff’s Individual Claims Are Moot
Guest Author: Lindsey Marcus
Some good news for employers. In a recent 5-4 opinion, the U.S. Supreme Court held that collective-action claims brought under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) are moot when the named plaintiff has no continuing personal interest in the outcome of the lawsuit and no motion for conditional certification has been…
What Do You Mean I Have To Pay My Nanny Overtime?!
As a working mom, I am lucky to have a husband who is a stay-at-home parent. Rarely do I have to worry about being late to work because I have to drop my child off at school, or leaving work early to take my child to an after-school activity or doctor’s appointment. However, many of…
Don’t Forget to Include Non-Discretionary Bonuses in Overtime
As 2012 comes to a close, we inevitably receive questions related to year-end bonuses. Last year, I posted about whether employers were required to pay a pro-rata bonus to those employees who left their employment before the bonus was paid out. This year, I thought it might be helpful to remind employers of certain rules relating to bonus payments made to non-exempt employees.
Bonus Payments and Overtime
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires that overtime pay be determined using the employee’s “regular rate” of pay, which includes all earnings paid to the employee during the workweek. However, the FLSA specifically provides that certain earnings may be excluded from the regular rate, including certain bonuses where:
(a) the bonus remains completely within the employer’s discretion, which the employer exercises close to the end of the period for which the bonus is paid, and is in no way required by any contract, agreement, or promise such that employees may expect the bonus, or
(b) the bonus payments are made pursuant to a bona fide profit-sharing plan or trust or bona fide thrift or savings plan; 29 CFR § 778.200(a).
Continue Reading Don’t Forget to Include Non-Discretionary Bonuses in Overtime
Family Dollar Settles Store Manager Overtime Claim
On September 12, 2012, Family Dollar announced that it will pay up to $14 million to settle a class action in the Southern District of New York. Similar to other class actions filed against Family Dollar over the years, New York store managers claimed that the Company failed to pay them overtime. Although the agreement…