On August 23, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued its much-anticipated decision in Restaurant Law Center v. United States Department of Labor. In one of the very first federal appellate court...more
This week, we’re getting up close and personal with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and the contentious new rules that it is rushing to put into effect:
The DOL is racing ahead with its agenda, with several rules that...more
On August 30, 2023, in one of the U.S. Department of Labor’s most highly anticipated rulemakings of the year, the Wage and Hour Division announced the details of its forthcoming Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding the...more
8/31/2023
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Highly Compensated Employees ,
Labor Reform ,
Minimum Salary ,
Non-Exempt Employees ,
Over-Time ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
As discussed here, in January 2021, in the waning days of the Trump administration, the U.S. Department of Labor issued a Final Rule setting forth for the first time a standard for differentiating employees and independent...more
Neither fish nor fowl
Salaried with overtime
Brings pain and regret
We don’t see a lot of wage and hour poetry these days, but if we did, it would probably look a bit like the foregoing example from an anonymous...more
On June 21, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced a new proposed rule related to when an employer may take a tip credit and pay a lower minimum wage to tipped employees performing so-called tipped and non-tipped...more
This week on our special podcast series, Employers and the New Administration, we look at how the Biden administration’s approach to wage and hour issues will impact employers. Special podcast episodes air every other...more
On January 29, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor announced the immediate termination of its Payroll Audit Independent Determination Program (PAID). Launched in March 2018 by the Wage and Hour Division (WHD), PAID was...more
On January 6, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor released its much-anticipated Final Rule addressing independent contractor status under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The Department indicates that the rulemaking should...more
It’s #WorkforceWednesday! This week, we look at President-Elect Biden’s likely Department of Labor agenda and the challenges COVID-19 vaccines and rapid jurisdictional changes are creating for employers.
What Employers Can...more
For the second time this week, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (“WHD”) has issued a Final Rule involving the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (the “FLSA”). ...more
From the time of its original enactment in 1938, the Fair Labor Standards Act has contained an exemption for certain employees of a “retail or service establishment.” ...more
On Thursday, January 16, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (“WHD”) published in the Federal Register the much-anticipated Final Rule regarding joint employer status under the Fair Labor Standards...more
1/22/2020
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Final Rules ,
Franchises ,
Franchisors ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Joint Employers ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
NPRM ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Wage and Hour
As winter once again approaches, employers, particularly those in cold-weather states, face the recurring specter of inclement weather affecting business operations and employee attendance. While the weather may create...more
12/17/2019
/ Absenteeism ,
Attendance ,
Business Interruption ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Labor Regulations ,
Non-Exempt Employees ,
Opinion Letter ,
Salaried Employees ,
Severe Weather ,
Wage and Hour ,
Weather Policy
On December 16, 2019, the United States Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (“WHD”) published in the Federal Register a Final Rule updating the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) regulations that govern, among other...more
12/17/2019
/ Compensation & Benefits ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Final Rules ,
Labor Regulations ,
Non-Exempt Employees ,
Over-Time ,
Rate of Pay ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Wage and Hour
On September 24, 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued its highly anticipated final rule regarding amendments to the overtime exemption criteria for the administrative, executive, and professional (“EAP”)...more
10/1/2019
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EAP ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Final Rules ,
Minimum Salary ,
New Rules ,
Over-Time ,
State and Local Government ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
For the past four-plus years, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) has actively pursued revisions to the compensation requirements for the executive, administrative, and professional exemptions to the Fair Labor Standards...more
9/30/2019
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Final Rules ,
Highly Compensated Employees ,
Labor Regulations ,
Minimum Salary ,
Non-Exempt Employees ,
Over-Time ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
Hospitality remains at the forefront of demanding industries where employers must be ever vigilant in their efforts to ensure full compliance with federal, state, and local employment laws and regulations. We highlight below...more
5/15/2019
/ Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Compliance ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Internships ,
Joint Employers ,
New Rules ,
NLRB ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Primary Beneficiary Test ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
Spring may have been slow to arrive in some parts of the country this year, but the courts, state legislatures, and government agencies have been moving full speed ahead. In April, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a potentially...more
5/10/2018
/ Confidentiality Agreements ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Internships ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
Navarro v Encino Motorcars ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Public Employers ,
Retailers ,
Risk Management ,
SCOTUS ,
Service Advisors ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Wage and Hour ,
Work Schedules ,
Workplace Violence
In a move allowing increased flexibility for employers and greater opportunity for unpaid interns to gain valuable industry experience, the United States Department of Labor (“DOL”) recently issued Field Assistance Bulletin...more
Addressing Workplace Sexual Harassment in the Wake of #MeToo -
Revelations of the Harvey Weinstein scandal, and those that have followed, have ignited sexual harassment complaints against employers across all industries....more
12/27/2017
/ Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Cybersecurity ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Equal Pay ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Harassment ,
Minimum Salary ,
Paid Leave ,
Popular ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
A year ago, employers across the country prepared for the implementation of a new overtime rule that would dramatically increase the salary threshold for white-collar exemptions, on the understanding that the new rule would...more
9/29/2017
/ Arbitration ,
Barack Obama ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Definition ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Independent Contractors ,
Joint Employers ,
Misclassification ,
Murphy Oil v NLRB ,
Popular ,
Tip Credit ,
Tip-Pooling ,
Trump Administration ,
Unpaid Overtime ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions