#WorkforceWednesday: Office Building Guidance, OSHA Steps Up, “Fluctuating Workweek” Rule - Employment Law This Week®
II-30- Tackling 3 Big Wage and Hour Questions for Employers
I-14: Update on EEO-1 and I-9 Forms, Employer Obligations After a Hurricane or Other Natural Disaster, and Attorney Jason Barsanti on Meal and Rest Breaks
I am asked many times by clients whether they should put workers on a fluctuating work week (FWW) arrangement, as a method of providing income stability and also to lower the overtime costs if that person works overtime. ...more
I read an interesting article by Linda Bond Edwards from Rumberger Kirk which addressed the issue of paying employees a “salary” in exempt and non-exempt scenarios. The article brings up the very misunderstood issue of what...more
The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that a worker who earned more than $200,000 still had to be paid the overtime rate for hours worked over 40 in a workweek. As more fully explained in the recent article by my colleague...more
I always tell clients it is not enough to “merely” comply with the Fair Labor Standards Act on wage-hour issues. I always tell them that they must comply with State law, which may (often) be stricter than the federal law and...more
The federal Department of Labor (DOL) has long interpreted the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to allow an employer to pay a nonexempt employee a fixed salary for all hours worked in a workweek and “half-time” of an...more
Many employers faced with large potential overtime costs elect to implement the fluctuating workweek pay plan for non-exempt workers. Under Department of Labor regulations, employers can pay a guaranteed salary for all hours...more
Second of two on the FLSA. NOTE FROM ROBIN: In March, I began a series of very basic explanations of the federal laws that govern the workplace. The first installment covered discrimination in general, the second...more
Overtime standards in Virginia will return to federal standards beginning July 1, 2022. On July 1, 2021, the Virginia Overtime Wage Act (VOWA) went into effect, significantly deviating the state’s overtime pay laws from...more
The Virginia Overtime Wage Act (VOWA), Va. Code § 40.1-29.2, becomes effective July 1, 2021, and will significantly alter employers’ wage and hour obligations in Virginia. At first glance, the VOWA appears to track federal...more
By definition, the hallmark of the fluctuating workweek (FWW) is that the hours fluctuate. Now, following another opinion letter from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) on the topic, employers know that this does not mean...more
On August 31, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor issued a new opinion letter shedding light on the application of the fluctuating workweek method for paying overtime wages required under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)...more
In an opinion letter issued on August 31, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor restated its position that an employee’s hours need not fluctuate above and below 40 hours to qualify for the fluctuating workweek (“FWW”) method of...more
On August 31, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) released opinion letter FLSA2020-14. The opinion letter explains that an employee’s hours do not need to fluctuate below 40 hours per week...more
The U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) just released a Wage and Hour Opinion Letter yesterday addressing the fluctuating workweek, reiterating its position that an employee’s work hours do not need to fluctuate above and below...more
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), Wage and Hour Division (WHD) issued an opinion letter on August 31, 2020 addressing whether the fluctuating workweek method of compensation may be used when an employee’s weekly hours...more
A Department of Labor rule provides that payments other than fixed salary are compatible with the fluctuating workweek method of calculating overtime pay under the FLSA. The Department of Labor's Final Rule, which took...more
On June 8, the U.S. Department of Labor issued its final rule to provide some clarity for employers seeking to use the fluctuating workweek method of computing overtime compensation under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: In its first published ruling on such issues, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit disagreed with some earlier court rulings and, in keeping with the U.S. Department of Labor’s new interpretive...more
Coming on the heels of the U.S. Department of Labor recently issuing its final regulations clarifying the fluctuating workweek (FWW) method of overtime compensation under the FLSA, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals just issued...more
For the past few months, we have been keeping a very safe distance from each other: thousands of miles. However, as more businesses reopen across the country, we realize it is time to come together (virtually) to discuss an...more
While you have been primarily focused on COVID-19-related matters for the past few months, that doesn’t the world of labor and employment law has taken a timeout. While the pace of new developments has slowed somewhat, there...more
Employers who use the fluctuating workweek method of compensating employees and those who rely on the retail establishment exemption from overtime are both in for some changes. Recently the Department of Labor (DOL) passed...more
The federal Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a final rule that will revise a Fair Labor Standards Act regulation to clarify that an employer may provide bonuses, premium pay, and hazard pay to non-exempt employees when...more
The USDOL has been pretty busy lately issuing new rules and interpretations about FLSA issues, including vague, nuanced issues like the inclusion (or not) of bonuses in the regular rate and the circumstances under which...more
The fluctuating workweek formula applies to nonexempt, salaried employees whose hours vary widely from week to week. The formula allows employers to pay overtime hours at diminishing rates as long as they pay workers a...more