Littler Mendelson, P.C. • February 07, 2012

Employers faced with wage and hour litigation often seek to condition settlement on the agreement of plaintiffs to keep the settlement and its terms confidential. Confidentiality is often an important condition of settlement because employers may hope to avoid “copycat” claims by other employees and face the possibility that disclosure of a wage and hour settlement may be viewed by the public as an “admission” of liability.

Littler Mendelson, P.C. • February 07, 2012

In one of many recent Department of Labor (DOL) enforcement actions against the home health care industry, a federal court entered a consent decree ordering Aspen Nursing Services Inc. to pay $210,000 in back pay and liquidated damages to 22 employees. Aspen provides home health aides for individuals with disabilities in Kentucky and Ohio.

Fisher & Phillips, LLP • February 07, 2012

Betty works for The Big Store as a non-exempt Accounts-Payable Clerk. She is assigned to help with taking a merchandise inventory over one weekend, and she works a total of 60 hours in that workweek.

Ogletree Deakins • February 02, 2012

Acme Corporation's longstanding policy is to give non-exempt employees two 10-minute rest breaks each workday. It treats these breaks as paid worktime. Management recently realized that, over the years, most of the employees have gradually come to be spending 15 to 20 minutes or even a little longer on each break. Acme sent out a memo reminding everyone that the breaks are limited to 10 minutes, but it had no effect. Could Acme start considering the over-10-minute extensions to be unpaid time?

Franczek Radelet P.C • January 31, 2012

Regular readers may have noticed a decline in the frequency of our updates around the end of the year. That's because, in addition to the usual holiday and year-end craziness, my wife and I welcomed a new baby on the day after Christmas. As I get back into the swing of work and blogging, I thought this might be a perfect time to review the federal requirements regarding break time for nursing mothers.

Franczek Radelet P.C • January 30, 2012

For roughly the last two years, the U.S. Department of Labor has been contemplating (some would say "threatening") revisions to the recordkeeping regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act that would require an employer who classifies an employee as exempt to prepare a written justification of the basis for the exemption. This document would have to be provided to the employee and would be subject to inspection by the Department of Labor. For obvious reasons, many employers strongly disfavor this proposal.

Fisher & Phillips, LLP • January 27, 2012

The best answer to last week's Quick Quiz is, "No", it is not likely that Alan's time between calls would be found to be worktime under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.

Franczek Radelet P.C • January 25, 2012

In May, my partner Staci reported on a ruling against Applebee's by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, holding that tipped employees who spent more than 20 percent of their working time on nontipped activities like cleaning restrooms were entitled to the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. Applebee's asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the ruling, arguing that the Eighth Circuit incorrectly deferred to the U.S. Department of Labor's "informal interpretation" of its FLSA regulations in its 1988 Field Operations Handbook, and that as a result it applied an "utterly unworkable standard that has no basis in the text or purpose of the FLSA and that will impose crushing administrative and financial burdens on restaurants and other employers of tipped employees." Last week, the Supreme Court turned down Applebee's petition, leaving the Court of Appeals' ruling intact.

Constangy, Brooks & Smith, LLP • January 23, 2012

It seems like such an insignificant little case, but it's really a can of exploding snakes.

Fisher & Phillips, LLP • January 20, 2012

Alan is a Help Desk Associate for The Big Corporation. He is subject to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act's minimum-wage, overtime, and timekeeping requirements.