Retail automotive dealerships enjoy a special exemption from the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Section 13(b)(10)(A) of the FLSA provides an overtime exemption for “any salesman, partsman, or mechanic...more
Property and liability insurance carriers typically employ inspectors whose jobs involve investigations in support of their claims adjustment functions. Last month, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (which includes North...more
Over the past several years, the healthcare industry and Department of Labor have clashed over the application of the Professional exemption to the Fair Labor Standards Act’s minimum wage and overtime requirements to various...more
In a major defeat for the home health care industry, on August 21, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court decision that had blocked issuance of an interpretation making thousands of currently exempt workers...more
Restaurants and some other hospitality industry employers often take advantage of a sub-minimum wage applicable to employees who receive tips as part of their income. In recent years, a number of these employers have been the...more
Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act prohibits employers from discriminating or retaliating against employees who engage in protected concerted activity. Concerted Activity means actions involving terms and...more
8/17/2015
/ Class Action ,
Collective Actions ,
Discrimination ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Retaliation ,
Section 7 ,
Tipped Employees
Employer misclassification of employees as contractors has filled recent newspaper articles and caught the attention of legislators in the Carolinas and beyond. Last week, the federal Department of Labor entered the fray,...more
Employers involved in recent years in legal disputes with the federal government have noticed an increasingly aggressive litigation posture taken by federal agencies. The government makes extraordinary settlement demands, or...more
Last week’s announcement by the Department of Labor of proposed changes to its Part 541 overtime exemption rules appropriately focused on the huge increase to the salary test required for exempt employees. Buried within the...more
On Tuesday, the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division released its highly anticipated proposed changes to the Part 541 overtime and minimum wage exemption regulations. These rules implement Section 13(a)(1) of the Fair...more
When an employer signs a general release of claims with a former employee, it expects that the agreement and the consideration provided will prevent future legal claims. However, certain actions, such as Workers’ Compensation...more
The U.S. Supreme Court rejects the overwhelming majority of requests for review of lower court decisions. For some reason, the Court appears to have a soft spot for so-called “donning and doffing” cases. These cases involve...more
The Department of Labor’s long-anticipated revisions to its Part 541 overtime exemption regulations await Office of Management and Budget review before issuance in proposed form. The new rules follow President Obama’s...more
As with most federal labor laws, the Fair Labor Standards Act prohibits employers from retaliating against employees who complain about violation of their rights to overtime pay and minimum wage. In its 2011 Kasten decision,...more
When taking in your car to the dealership for repairs, you are usually greeted by a service advisor. Service advisors compile information needed for the mechanic to diagnose and repair the vehicle. They also provide cost...more
Companies subject to federal agency regulations sometimes face situations where measures taken to comply with such rules work one day, and then result in violations of those rules the next. Federal administrative agencies...more
3/14/2015
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Mortgage Brokers ,
Notice and Comment ,
Over-Time ,
Perez v Mortage Bankers Assoc ,
Rulemaking Process ,
SCOTUS ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Wage and Hour
Defendants sometimes assert “equitable” defenses to legal claims brought against them. In some situations, courts have the discretion to bar claims by plaintiffs whose “unclean hands” or other actions make recovery manifestly...more
In the January 2 edition, EmployNews reported that a federal district court in Washington vacated provisions of new Department of Labor regulations that would have excluded employees of companies providing elder care services...more
Last month, the National Labor Relations Board reversed established precedent, concluding that employees must be allowed to use the employer’s email system for protected communications made during non-working hours by...more
The home care industry received a welcomed holiday gift from the United States District Court in Washington, D.C. on December 22, when the court vacated a portion of a new regulation that would have required third-party...more
On Tuesday, a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court concluded that federal wage and hour laws do not require employers to pay employees for time spent going through security checks after they complete their job tasks. In Integrity...more
Last October, the federal Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division sent shockwaves through the home health care industry by issuing final rules declaring most of its employees to be subject to FLSA minimum wage and...more