With much of the United States covered in ice and snow, many employers are questioning when they need to pay employees who are affected by weather-related disruptions. All throughout the United States employees have been late to work because they were stuck in the snow or their kids’ school was yet again delayed and businesses … Continue Reading
As of January 1, 2014, thirteen states will raise the minimum wage for workers. In Arizona ($7.90 per hour), Colorado [pdf] ($8.00 per hour), Connecticut [pdf] ($8.70 per hour), Florida ($7.93 per hour), Missouri ($7.50 per hour), Montana ($7.90 per hour), New Jersey ($8.25 per hour), New York ($8.00 per hour), Ohio ($7.95 per hour), Oregon … Continue Reading
In a highly anticipated decision, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals declined to enforce the key portion of the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) decision in D.R. Horton, Inc. In January 2012, the NLRB ruled that an arbitration agreement between an employer and an employee that required the employee to bring any claims against the … Continue Reading
As we reported earlier, last year, New York amended its wage deduction statute [pdf] and greatly expanded categories of permissible deductions from employees’ pay. In an earlier post, we discussed the regulations interpreting Labor Law Section 193 proposed by the New York Department of Labor. The New York Department of Labor has now adopted those … Continue Reading
In recent years, unpaid interns have made headlines by bringing suit against companies for allegedly failing to pay minimum wage and overtime wages in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and state wage and hour laws. In order to avoid potential litigation and negative publicity, employers should review their requirements under the FLSA … Continue Reading
Last year, New York amended its wage deduction statute and greatly expanded categories of permissible deductions from employees’ pay. In addition to statutory deductions and deductions for health and welfare plans which have traditionally been permissible, New York employers may now deduct wages for the benefit of the employee, including the following: insurance premiums and … Continue Reading
New York City recently passed legislation to join only a handful of cities in the United States to mandate paid sick leave for employees. New York City Council passed the Earned Sick Time Act overriding Mayor Bloomberg’s earlier veto. The Earned Sick Time Act requires that employers of at least 20 employees provide paid sick … Continue Reading
Yesterday, the United States Supreme Court had the opportunity to address a split in the circuits regarding whether or not a Rule 68 offer of judgment to a named plaintiff in a FLSA collective action mooted a potential collective action. In Genesis Healthcare Corp., et al. v. Symczyk [pdf], the Supreme Court held that because … Continue Reading
This week’s decision [pdf] from a Pennsylvania district court invalidating the FLSA fluctuating work week method under Pennsylvania wage law serves a good reminder to multi-state employers that just because something is okay under the federal wage law does not necessarily make it so under the corresponding state wage law. Employers should always ensure that their … Continue Reading
The following list of questions provides a snapshot to use in determining whether or not you are complying with the wage and hour laws and regulations. You should know the answer to every one of these questions. Although a “No” answer does not necessarily mean you are in violation of any laws or regulations, you … Continue Reading
In a decision employers have been anticipating since 2008, the California Supreme Court has clarified key aspects of the state’s laws regarding paid rest periods and unpaid, duty free, meal breaks for non-exempt employees. In Brinker Restaurant Corporation v. Superior Court, the high court examined exactly how many 10-minute paid rest periods non-exempt employees are … Continue Reading
The California legislature passed two new laws employers should not ignore. SB 459, now awaiting Governor Brown’s signature to go into law, imposes additional penalties against employers who are found to have willfully misclassified independent contractors. Willful misclassification is defined as “avoiding employee status for an individual by voluntarily and knowingly misclassifying that individual as … Continue Reading
As previously reported in Squire Sanders’ Sixth Circuit blog, the Supreme Court recently ruled that oral statements made to an employer regarding wage and hour violations are sufficient to trigger the anti-retaliation provision of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Kasten v. Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Corp., No. 09-834 (March 22, 2011). Thus, employees are not … Continue Reading
President Obama’s Director of the Office of Management and Budget announced earlier this week that the White House’s budget proposes to cut the Department of Labor’s funding for fiscal year 2012 by 5%. In other words, the DOL is going to have to do more with less. Or maybe they’ll just have to do less. Some employers are hopeful … Continue Reading
