Tag – Wage-Hour: Employment & Labor Insider

Posts tagged Wage-Hour.

$89K manager may not be FLSA-exempt, court rules

By Robin Shea on 2.12.16
Posted in Wage-Hour

This is scary.

You'd think a person with "Manager" in her job title who was making more than $89,000 a year would be exempt from the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Not necessarily.

A federal judge in Maine ruled that Bottomline Technologies, Inc., a financial processing services company, will have to face a jury trial on the wage-and-hour claims of Debra* Colello ...

5 ways employers can spend a lot less time in court

By Robin Shea on 8.7.15
Posted in Corporate Culture, Discrimination, Retaliation, Wage-Hour

"An apple a day keeps the ~~doctor~~ lawyer away." Here are five easy and inexpensive things that employers can do to minimize their risk of being sued and maximize their chances of victory if they do get sued. None of these involve major expense, or even the use of lawyers.

1. Err on the side of treating your workers as (a) non-exempt and (b) "employees." Let this be your default ...

You've been warned - those independent contractors are probably employees

By Robin Shea on 7.17.15
Posted in Independent Contractor, Wage-Hour

Are you still using "independent contractors"? Get out of here - you know they're really employees!

On Wednesday, I did a very short "breaking news" post on the new Interpretation issued by Wage and Hour Administrator David Weil on when workers are "employees" versus "independent contractors" under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Here's more.

As employers probably ...

BREAKING: DOL issues memo on independent contractors

By Robin Shea on 7.15.15
Posted in Independent Contractor, Wage-Hour

Law360 reported this morning that the U.S. Department of Labor issued a memorandum addressing the "independent contractor versus employee" issue, taking the position that most workers are actually employees within the meaning of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

We'll have more on this after we've had an opportunity to review it in more depth. Meanwhile, here is the Memorandum

Proposed overtime rule has been sent to OMB

By Robin Shea on 5.5.15
Posted in Wage-Hour

Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez announced today that the U.S. Department of Labor has submitted a proposed rule on the white-collar FLSA overtime exemptions to the federal Office of Management and Budget, which means that the proposed revisions to the overtime regulations could be made public before long.

Although the specifics are not known at this time, the proposed rule is ...

15 for '15: Employment and labor resolutions for the new year

By David Phippen of our Metro D.C. Office.

While the year is still young, here are 15 New Year's resolutions that employers may want to make:

1. Make sure your "independent contractors" are really independent contractors. "Independent contractors" are under scrutiny by the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Department of Labor, the National Labor Relations Board, state and local agencies, plaintiffs' lawyers, and union organizers. A misclassification can cost you back taxes, back pay (including overtime), and back benefits, as well as penalties and interest.

2. Review your email policies. The NLRB recently found that employees generally have a right to use employer email systems during non-working time in support of union organizing and concerted activity. The Board's decision means that many employer email use policies, as currently drafted, would probably be found to violate the National Labor Relations Act if an unfair labor practice charge were filed or a union tried to organize employees and argued that the employer's email policy interfered with the organizing efforts. In light of the new "quickie election" rule that the NLRB issued last month, both union and non-union employers would be well advised to review their email policies and revise as needed. (The "quickie election" rule is scheduled to take effect on April 14, but the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other employer groups, including the Society for Human Resources Management, filed suit on Monday seeking to block the rule.)

It's not too late to register for our webinar on the NLRB's new rules on "quickie elections" and employee email use. The webinar, featuring labor attorneys Tim Davis, Jonathan Martin, and Dan Murphy, is from noon to 1 p.m. Eastern tomorrow (January 8). Be there, or be square!

Year-end employment law roundup -- happy 2015!

By Robin Shea on 1.2.15
Posted in Americans with Disabilities Act, Class actions, Discrimination, eLaw, Family and Medical Leave Act, Harassment, Labor Relations, Retaliation, Wage-Hour

NOTE: On January 15, this post was updated and one correction made (see "Nipped in the bud" and "Jury clobbers Catholic diocese," below).

Happy New Year, everyone! While I've been out for the holidays, the courts and government agencies have stayed busy with employment law matters. Here are the developments that I thought were especially noteworthy:

WAGE AND HOUR

Twenty states raised ...

5 legal traps for the wariest employer

By Robin Shea on 12.5.14
Posted in Affirmative Action, Americans with Disabilities Act, Employment at Will, Family and Medical Leave Act, Gender Identity Discrimination, Harassment, Protected Concerted Activity, Retaliation, Wage-Hour

You're an employer who tries to do the right thing. But what hidden traps are out there, waiting to grab your ankle and yank you into a lawsuit? Here are a few that cause trouble for even the best employers:

Trap No. 5: Capturing all time worked for your non-exempt employees. We get so accustomed to exempt employees who answer emails at all hours and handle business while driving to and from ...

Plan/Prevent/Protect: "Affirmative Action for Everybody!"

By Robin Shea on 10.25.10
Posted in Affirmative Action, Safety, Wage-Hour

The U.S. Department of Labor is planning to impose new “affirmative action” requirements on employers, requiring them to develop “plans” to address workplace safety, equal employment opportunity, and wage and hour/employee classification issues.

For the most part, these requirements – called “Plan/Prevent/Protect” – will not be limited to federal ...

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