It’s two months into argument season at the Supreme Court, and we’re always keeping our fingers crossed that the justices will take up a wage and hour issue and clear up some ambiguities in the law or a circuit split. ...more
On September 2, 2020, the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that employees bear the burden of proof on whether bonuses should have been included in the regular rate of pay for purposes of calculating overtime...more
As we have previously reported, in late 2018, a Texas appellate court ruled that a similar paid sick leave ordinance enacted in Austin violated the Texas Minimum Wage Act and the Texas Constitution and was therefore...more
On March 26, 2019, New York’s highest court delivered a victory for employers in the home care industry, clarifying that employers need only compensate home health aides for 13 hours of a 24-hour shift, provided the employees...more
4/1/2019
/ Agency Deference ,
Appeals ,
Class Certification ,
Home Health Care ,
Home Healthcare Workers ,
Legislative History ,
New York Court of Appeals ,
NYDOL ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Remand ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
Reversal ,
State Labor Departments ,
Wage and Hour
In yet another legal development calling into question a traditional independent contractor relationship in the U.S., the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit determined that off-duty police officers were employees of a...more
2/14/2019
/ Appeals ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Economic Realities Test ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Over-Time ,
Payroll Records ,
Police ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Security Guards ,
Wage Statements
In two decisions issued on September 19, the Second Circuit relied on the Supreme Court’s instruction in Encino Motorcars, LLC v. Navarro, 138 S. Ct. 1134, 1140 (April 2, 2018) that FLSA exemptions are not to be construed...more
9/21/2018
/ Appeals ,
Drivers ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Navarro v Encino Motorcars ,
Over-Time ,
Reaffirmation ,
Salespersons ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Summary Judgment ,
Taxi Cabs ,
Unpaid Overtime ,
Wage and Hour
In an April 2, 2018 decision of otherwise narrow appeal to most employers (whether the exemption in Section 13(b) (10)(A) of the Fair Labor Standards Act for an automobile “salesman, partsman, or mechanic” applies to “service...more
4/3/2018
/ Appeals ,
Automotive Industry ,
Car Dealerships ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Legislative History ,
Navarro v Encino Motorcars ,
Over-Time ,
Reversal ,
Salespersons ,
SCOTUS ,
Service Advisors ,
Statutory Construction Test ,
Wage and Hour
In a unanimous decision in EEOC v. R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes, Inc., a three-judge Sixth Circuit panel has held that discrimination on the basis of transgender status is “necessarily” discrimination on the basis of sex...more
3/13/2018
/ Appeals ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Gender Identity ,
Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) ,
Reversal ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Stereotyping ,
Substantial Burden ,
Summary Judgment ,
Title VII ,
Transgender ,
Wrongful Termination
The U.S. Department of Labor announced in a January 5, 2017 press release that it was scrapping the six-factor test it had used for years to determine whether interns are employees for purposes of the Fair Labor Standards Act...more
On November 15, 2017, in a case of first impression in the Ninth Circuit, the Court of Appeals adopted the longstanding position of sister circuits and the U.S. Department of Labor that for purposes of determining whether an...more
The DOL will appeal a Texas federal court’s ruling that the Obama administration’s 2016 overtime rule exceeded the DOL’s authority. The appeal comes nearly two months after the DOL dropped an earlier appeal of that court’s...more
In light of the Texas district court’s recent judgment invalidating the 2016 overtime rule, the DOL filed an unopposed motion to withdraw its appeal of the November 2016 order that preliminarily enjoined the rule on a...more
9/8/2017
/ Appeals ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Minimum Salary ,
Obama Administration ,
Over-Time ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Secretary of Labor ,
Summary Judgment ,
Trump Administration ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Labor filed a reply brief in further support of its appeal of the November 22, 2016 order in State of Nevada v. United States Dep’t of Labor, No. 4:16-CV-00731 (E.D. Tex.). That order,...more
7/1/2017
/ Appeals ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Lack of Authority ,
Minimum Salary ,
Over-Time ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Request For Information ,
Secretary of Labor ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
On June 27, 2017, the U.S. Department of Labor sent a Request for Information related to the now-enjoined overtime rule to the Office of Management and Budget for review. After OMB completes its review, the RFI will be...more
6/28/2017
/ Appeals ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Minimum Salary ,
OMB ,
Over-Time ,
Public Comment ,
Request For Information ,
Secretary of Labor ,
Stays ,
Trump Administration ,
White-Collar Exemptions
Even the Supreme Court doesn’t want to talk about the regular rate of pay.
The City of San Gabriel, California, provides a flexible benefits plan to its employees under which they receive a designated monetary amount to...more
5/17/2017
/ Appeals ,
Cash-in-Lieu of Benefits ,
Denial of Certiorari ,
Employee Benefits ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Flexible Work Arrangements ,
Liquidated Damages ,
Over-Time ,
Police ,
Remand ,
SCOTUS ,
State and Local Government ,
Wage and Hour ,
Willful Violations
Remember the new federal overtime rule that was going to double the minimum salary for the “white collar” exemptions? In November, a Texas district court issued a nationwide injunction preventing the rule from taking effect....more
One of the recurring themes in workplace law in 2016 was the continued crackdown on independent contractor misclassification. Both federal and state agencies, as well as the plaintiffs’ bar, invested significant resources to...more
1/6/2017
/ Administrative Appeals ,
Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Appeals ,
Audits ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Independent Contractors ,
Judicial Review ,
Misclassification ,
NYDOL ,
Unemployment Insurance ,
Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board
Yesterday, Judge Amos Mazzant of the Eastern District of Texas denied the motion of the U.S. Department of Labor to stay further district court proceedings in the overtime litigation. The DOL had asked the district...more
1/4/2017
/ Appeals ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Interlocutory Appeals ,
Minimum Salary ,
Motion To Intervene ,
Motion To Stay ,
Over-Time ,
Permanent Injunctions ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
In a summary order issued on December 7, the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit–in Chowdhury v. Hamza Express Food Corp., No. 15-3142-cv–held that an award of liquidated damages under both the Fair Labor Standards Act...more
On December 2, the U.S. Department of Labor filed a motion with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit seeking an expedited briefing schedule on its appeal of the district court injunction of the overtime rule that...more
Earlier this week, the New York State Court of Appeals in Yoga Vida NYC, Inc. v. Commissioner of Labor., No. 130 (N.Y. Oct. 25, 2016), issued a rare decision concerning an unemployment determination, reversing the Appellate...more