The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (“FMCSA”) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) on November 20, 2024,titled Transparency in Property Broker Transactions (89 FR 91648). ...more
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires that employers pay certain employees one-and-a-half times their regular rate of pay for any hours they work over 40 in a workweek. There are, however, several exemptions from the...more
I am a big student of the FLSA motor carrier exemption and have handled many such cases. I often find that a big obstacle for the employer claiming the exemption is to prove that the drivers are engaged in “interstate...more
UPDATE: As of October 23, 2023, the FMCSA extended the comment period by 30 days to November 29, 2023. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (“FMCSA”) published an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Recently, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that a crane mechanic who performed some work on a truck chassis came within the purview of the Motor Carrier Act exemption to the Fair Labor...more
This week, the Court addresses the retroactive effect of a preemption decision by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and the constitutionality of California’s prohibition on an incumbent appearing on the ballot...more
Although the plaintiff cable technicians, who were paid by the completed job and not by the hour, were covered employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), they nonetheless were bona fide commissioned employees and...more
In Progressive Southeastern Ins. Co. v. B&T Bulk, LLC, No. 21S-CT-496, 2022 Ind. LEXIS 131, the Supreme Court of Indiana (Supreme Court) reversed a decision of the Court of Appeals of Indiana (Court of Appeals), ruling that...more
The Virginia Department of Labor and Industry recently released a set of Frequently Asked Questions to help clarify the Virginia Overtime Wage Act, which was signed into law by Gov. Ralph Northam (D) on March 31. The Overtime...more
I have always been interested in the Motor Carrier Act (MCA) exemption of the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 USC 213(b)(1), especially in the doctrine of “practical continuity” which is one of the ways that interstate commerce...more
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a decision by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) that FMCSA’s rest break regulations preempt the California meal and rest break rules (CA MRB Rules). The...more
Back in January, management-side labor and employment lawyers in Colorado thought the biggest wage and hour compliance issue for 2020 would be limited to ensuring clients were up to date on the expanded meal and rest break...more
On November 10, 2020, the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, Division of Labor Standards and Statistics (Division) published the final Colorado Overtime and Minimum Pay Standards Order Number 37 (COMPS Order 37),...more
Employment Law attorneys Mark Pihart, Laura Pfeiffer and Rachel Brygger discuss details of Minnesota's new Hands-Free Bill and what employers will need to do to stay in compliance....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Following the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s determination in December 2018 that federal law preempts California’s meal and rest break rules, observers questioned what deference courts would...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Motor Carrier Act exemption to the FLSA (“MCE”) is a powerful defense against overtime claims brought by interstate truck drivers and others involved in the interstate shipment of goods....more
U.S. Constitution - Article VI: This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall...more
On May 16, 2018, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals published an opinion unequivocally placing the burden of proof on interstate drivers of motor carriers seeking overtime under the small vehicle exception to the Motor...more
It is commonly understood that employees bear the burden of proving that they are covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), and, to avoid minimum wage or overtime obligations, the employer bears the burden of proving...more
Courts continue to review the circumstances surrounding the degree of control exercised over transportation service providers. This has held true in several different segments of the transportation industry whether it is home...more
Shippers who are used to doing business with motor carriers often present freight brokers with a shipper-carrier agreement (often described as a “Motor Carrier Agreement”) of one kind or another to serve as the basis of a...more
In most of the situations of injury and damage that are a result of allegedly improperly loaded freight, the damage is to third parties, who fall victim to freight careening from trucks on public highways, or falling off, or...more
The Third Circuit put a screeching halt to the contention that drivers must actually cross state lines to be exempt from overtime under the Motor Carrier Act (“MCA”). In Resch v. Krapf’s Coaches, Inc., the court ruled that...more
Are drivers of a motor carrier who rarely or never drive the carrier's interstate routes covered by the motor carrier exemption of the Fair Labor Standards Act? Yes, according to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third...more
In McMaster v. Eastern Armored Services, Inc., No. 14-1010 (March 11, 2015), the Third Circuit Court of Appeals issued one of the first federal appellate court opinions discussing the SAFETEA-LU Technical Corrections Act of...more