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).
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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
Overtime Included in Back-Pay Award Under FMLA
While we generally look at overtime as a “wage and hour” issue, I am once again reminded of how overtime is connected to other employment statutes. Recently, on an issue of first impression, the First Circuit found that the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) allows a prevailing plaintiff to recover lost overtime as part
Do Hours Worked On A Second Job Count Toward Overtime?
Q. An employee works for the company full-time, 7.5 hours per day, 5 days per week, at $20 per hour. To make ends meet, the employee also voluntarily works a different part-time job for the company on Saturdays, usually working an additional 7.5 hours at $15 per hour. The two jobs are completely separate and
Court Rejects Challenge to DOL’s Interpretation That Mortgage Loan Officers are Non-exempt
I wanted to give our readers a quick update on the status of mortgage loan officers. In Mortgage Bankers Ass’n v. Solis, a federal district court in Washington D.C. recently rejected a challenge to the March 2010 DOL administrator’s interpretation that mortgage loan officers do not generally meet the administrative exemption under the FLSA. As
Recent Settlements Agreeing to Pay Overtime for Misclassification of Employees
Misclassification of employees continues to bring a lot of headaches to employers. I have worked with a wide variety of businesses on this issue – from Fortune 500 to “mom and pop” companies. Each has its own way of doing things in this area and monitoring classification compliance is pretty low on the to-do list.
Mario Batali Restaurants Settle Tip Pool Lawsuit For $5.25 Million
The latest news in celebrity chef wage and hour litigation is that eight New York restaurants owned by Mario Batali have agreed to settle $5.25 million to settle a class action lawsuit alleging that they illegally withheld tips from hourly service workers. The proposed settlement, which must still be approved by the court following a
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
Seventh Circuit Weighs In On Commonality Requirement in Class Actions
The Seventh Circuit recently applied the Supreme Court’s Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes decision to class certification in a wage and hour action, and affirmed the certification of two classes. Ross v. RBS Citizens N.A. d/b/a Charter One. The Seventh Circuit held that the district court did not abuse its discretion in certifying two