On February 28, 2025, the US Department of Labor (DOL) appealed a December 2024 Texas federal trial court’s decision that blocked a Biden-era overtime rule promulgated by the DOL. This is the DOL’s second appeal following an appeal in November by the then Biden-led DOL of another Texas district court’s ruling that similarly vacated and … Continue Reading
In an increasingly-rare unanimous decision, on January 15 the United States Supreme Court held in E.M.D. Sales, Inc., et al. v. Carrera that employers must prove that an employee is exempt from the minimum wage and overtime pay provisions of the Fair Labor Standard Act by only a preponderance of the evidence, and not by … Continue Reading
Employers fearing rising labor costs can rest a little easier now after a Texas federal court struck down the U.S. Department of Labor’s (“DOL”) final rule (the “2024 Rule”), which, in July 2024, increased the minimum salary employers are required to pay employees under the executive, administrative, and professional (“EAP”), or “white collar,” exemptions to … Continue Reading
Don’t post anything online that you wouldn’t want your mother – or the Department of Labor – to see. Anyone who once thought that Facebook was a safe place to vent grievances or insult others probably knows by now that social media is no refuge for posting something that you wouldn’t usually say, for example, … Continue Reading
For nearly a year, we have been tracking (see here and here) the US Department of Labor’s (DOL) Final Rule modifying the salary requirements applicable to US employees who are exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) overtime requirement under the executive, administrative, and professional (EAP) “white collar exemptions.” The Final Rule is scheduled … Continue Reading
Way back in October 2022, we discussed the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) issuance of a notice of new rule that would substantially change the test for whether a worker is an employee, and thus covered by the minimum wage and overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), or is an independent contractor, … Continue Reading
On August 30, 2023, the US Department of Labor announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that could significantly change the “white collar exemptions” to the overtime compensation requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Under current law, by default all employees covered by the FLSA are entitled to overtime pay at the rate … Continue Reading
In a first of its kind opinion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (which hears appeals from the federal district courts in Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania) ruled that an employer does not violate the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) when it deducts time from FLSA-exempt employees’ paid time off (PTO) banks … Continue Reading
On February 22, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision clarifying employers’ obligation to pay overtime under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The decision, Helix Energy Solutions Grp., Inc. v. Hewitt, No. 21-984, — S.Ct. — (Feb. 22, 2023), affirmed the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals’ interpretation of the FLSA’s overtime pay … Continue Reading
On February 9, 2023, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a Field Assistance Bulletin addressing several vexing questions pertaining to compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) when a business employs teleworkers. Field Assistance Bulletins do not have the effect of law, but nonetheless are important … Continue Reading
State and local legislatures were active throughout 2022 in passing laws and ordinances that will impact employers of all sizes and all industries in 2023. Click HERE for our summary of these laws and related developments, including important developments in California, Colorado, Illinois, New York, and elsewhere! If you haven’t already, you might also want … Continue Reading
Virtually every employer in California has repeated the mantra of “no off-the-clock work” to its employees. But what about those minutes that are “on-the-clock” but remain unpaid because of rounding practices? Since 2012, when the California appellate court decided See’s Candy Shops, Inc. v. Superior Court, 210 Cal. App. 4th 889 (2012), employers have presumed … Continue Reading
Employers who have employees log onto computers before clocking into a time-keeping system and who have them clock out before shutting the computer down may be violating the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) according to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cadena v. Customer Connexx LLC. According to the facts in Cadena, employees had … Continue Reading
On October 11, 2022, the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would make it more difficult for employers to properly classify workers as independent contractors under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).… Continue Reading
Squire Patton Boggs Summer Associate Wade Erwin discusses the issues in and implications of an FLSA case set to heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in October. In the upcoming 2022-2023 term, the United States Supreme Court is set to decide in Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc., et al. v. Hewitt (No. 21-984) whether a … Continue Reading
In our post earlier this week, we covered recent developments in state and local labor and employment laws in the states at the beginning at the alphabet. We now turn our attention to developments in the remaining states.… Continue Reading
From our Capital Thinking blog, our public policy colleague Stacy Swanson shares the latest federal employment law developments in in the legislative and executive branches during the week of October 25, 2021. *** This is a weekly post spotlighting labor topics in focus by the US legislative and executive branches during the previous week. In this issue, … Continue Reading
On October 28, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued its Final Rule on tipped wages. As Presidential administrations have changed through the years, so too has the DOL’s view regarding the circumstances under which employers can pay tipped workers less than the federal minimum wage. [See this 2019 post for the immediately prior … Continue Reading
From our Capital Thinking blog, our public policy colleague Stacy Swanson shares the latest federal employment law developments in in the legislative and executive branches during the week of July 26, 2021. *** This is a weekly post spotlighting labor topics in focus by the US legislative and executive branches during the previous week. In this issue, … Continue Reading
On April 9, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2021-2, which provides updated guidance to Wage and Hour Division (“WHD”) field staff regarding the practice of seeking liquidated damages in settlements in lieu of litigation. In so doing, the DOL rescinded a Trump-era policy aimed at reducing the imposition … Continue Reading
From our Capital Thinking blog, our public policy colleague Stacy Swanson shares the latest federal employment law developments in in the legislative and executive branches during the week of March 29. *** This is a weekly post spotlighting labor topics in focus by the US legislative and executive branches during the previous week. In this issue, … Continue Reading
From our Capital Thinking blog, our public policy colleague Stacy Swanson shares the latest federal employment law developments in in the legislative and executive branches during the week of March 22. *** This is a weekly post spotlighting labor topics in focus by the US legislative and executive branches during the previous week. In this issue, we … Continue Reading
As we discussed in a previous post, the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) published guidance in December 2020 on employer mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policies. That guidance explained that subject to a few exceptions, employers can require that employees receive the COVID-19 vaccine as a condition of returning to, or remaining in the workplace. However, … Continue Reading
On February 19, 2021, the US Department of Labor’s (“DOL”) Wage and Hour Division (“WHD”) withdrew two Trump-era opinion letters. The first, FLSA2019-6, discussed whether a service provider for a virtual marketplace company (“VMC”) is an independent contractor or an employee subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). The second, FLSA2019-10, involved the compensability … Continue Reading
