When Will The Exemption Changes Occur?
One of the most-pressing questions for employers at the moment is when the U.S. Labor Department will finalize changes in its definitions of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act's Section 13(a)(1)...
View ArticleQuick Quiz: Part-Time Exempt Status
Tom is the Department Manager for Bigtown Computer Corporation's ten-employee Research and Development department. Bigtown treats him as being exempt from the federal Fair Labor Standards Act's...
View ArticleQuick Quiz Answer: Part-Time Exempt Status
The answer to our November 6, 2015 Quick Quiz is, "No". Under the new arrangement, Bigtown Computer Corporation could not continue to treat Tom as being exempt from the federal Fair Labor Standards...
View ArticleUPDATE: When Will The Exemption Changes Occur?
Since our recent post on this topic, U.S. Solicitor of Labor M. Patricia Smith has appeared at the annual conference of the American Bar Association's Labor & Employment Law Section. Some of her...
View ArticleLATEST UPDATE: When Will The Exemption Changes Occur?
The U.S. Labor Department's most-recent semi-annual regulatory agenda shows a July 2016 "Final Rule" timeframe for the revised regulations defining the federal Fair Labor Standards Act's Section...
View ArticleThird Circuit: Meal Breaks For Employees' "Predominant Benefit" Are Not Worktime
The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals (with jurisdiction over Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania) has ruled in Babcock v. Butler County that employees who receive the "predominant benefit" of a...
View ArticleUSDOL Is "Reaching Out" To Retail Workers
Employers in the retail industry take note: The U.S. Labor Department's Wage and Hour Division has announced that it is "reach[ing] out to [retail] workers to educate them about their rights" under...
View ArticlePushback Against USDOL's Exemption Proposals
The period for public comment on the U.S. Labor Department's proposed revisions in the regulations defining the federal Fair Labor Standards Act's Section 13(a)(1) exemptions ended on September 4....
View Article2016 Minimum-Wage Increases
Efforts to raise the federal Fair Labor Standards Act's minimum wage appear to be stalled for the moment.However, this has not been the case as to many states and localities. Employers should review...
View ArticleIndications that USDOL Will Finalize Exemption Changes in Spring 2016
The U.S. Labor Department is looking to a spring 2016 date for publishing the "Final Rule" revising the regulations defining the federal Fair Labor Standards Act's Section 13(a)(1) exemptions according...
View ArticleWhat Is A "Percentage Bonus"?
Overtime wages for employees subject to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act's overtime requirement must be based upon the "regular rate" of pay. This is an hourly rate that is normally determined by...
View ArticleUSDOL Releases Broad "Joint Employment" Interpretation
The U.S. Labor Department has taken the next step in its nearly-six-year-old "fissured industries" initiative by releasing Administrator Interpretation No. 2016-1, dealing with concepts of "joint...
View Article2nd Circuit Amends Unpaid-Internship Opinion
Readers will recall that, last July, the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals (with jurisdiction over Connecticut, New York, and Vermont) adopted a "primary benefit" framework for determining whether a...
View Article"Constructive Knowledge" Off-The-Clock Claim Rejected
Another federal appellate court, this time the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals (with jurisdiction over Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas) has rejected an employee's claim to have been entitled to...
View ArticlePaying "Current" Versus "In Arrears"
Some employers use the colloquialisms "current" and "in arrears" to describe the timing of employees' wage payments.Not surprisingly, many employees who are told they are paid "in arrears" rather than...
View ArticleHouse Members Oppose Exemption Changes
Some members of the U.S. House of Representatives have written to Labor Secretary Labor Tom Perez to express concerns about the U.S. Labor Department's proposed revisions in its regulatory definitions...
View ArticleExemption Regulations Update: Probable July Release
Reports are that U.S. Solicitor of Labor M. Patricia Smith said again today that the U.S. Labor Department's revised regulatory definitions of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act's Section 13(a)(1)...
View Article"It Must Be OK – Everybody Does It!"
It's time for a reminder: Long-held conventional wisdom that might be questionable or even mistaken under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (or the analogous laws of other jurisdictions) continues...
View ArticleCan A Salary "Build-In" Overtime Pay?
One approach to the coming changes in the federal Fair Labor Standards Act's Section 13(a)(1) exemptions would be to abandon exempt status for at least some employees.Of course, this will mean (among...
View ArticleFinal Exemption Regulations Sent To OIRA For Review
According to the federal Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs' website, the U.S. Labor Department has submitted for review the final revised regulatory definitions of the federal Fair Labor...
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