In the run-up to the holidays, Congress rushed a Continuing Resolution (CR) to President Obama’s desk entitled the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015. The omnibus spending bill, nicknamed “CRomnibus,” avoided another government shutdown and funded most federal agencies (save for the Department of Homeland Security) through the federal government’s 2015 fiscal year, which ends on September 30, 2015. As with many omnibus spending bills, Congress buried in the CRomnibus a number of actions intended to restrict federal agencies’ activities and, in some cases, to make substantial changes to existing laws. Of particular note to readers of this blog, both the Department of Labor and the trucking industry came out winners in the wage and hour world. CRomnibus increased funding for the Department of Labor and several of its subagencies, and handed motor carriers a temporary reprieve from the FMCSA’s 2013 maximum hours-of-work regulations.
The Pay Period Leap Year: Handling an Extra Pay Period in 2015
When I was a kid, my parents taught me the traditional Mother Goose rhyme to remember how many days each month had: “Thirty days hath September, April, June, and November. All the rest have 31….Except for February.” It always seemed odd that this supposed Mother Goose rhyme couldn’t figure out how to fit February in. The payroll calendar, at least for those employers with bi-weekly pay periods, doesn’t fit it in either. That means that while 2015 isn’t a leap year on the calendar, it will be a Pay Period Leap Year for many employers.
Adventures in Rounding: What if the “Rounding” Doesn’t Happen at the Time Clock? [Wage & Hour FAQ]
This past spring (here and here), I discussed rounding time clock punches (usually automatically with a time clock system) at the beginning and end of a shift. To recap briefly, rounding is the practice of adjusting time clock punch times within specific bounds. For example, if your employees punch in for work at 7:57, 8:01, and 8:02, your rounding rules may treat all of those punches as occurring at 8:00 a.m. for payroll purposes.
Not Every Employee is Covered by the FLSA, But You’re Not Off the Hook Just Yet
If you read this blog, attend presentations on wage and hour issues, or just shudder every time you read about another overtime or minimum wage lawsuit, you might assume that all employees are covered by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and its regulations. However, in some rare circumstances, the FLSA may not cover very small and, importantly, local businesses, meaning that those businesses’ employees may not be entitled to the minimum wage or overtime pay under the FLSA. A quick warning before we start: as we have highlighted in the past, though, most states and an increasing number of local governments do not provide exemptions from state and local minimum wage laws, even for small businesses. With a very few exceptions, the fact that the FLSA does not apply only resolves one half of the question; you almost certainly still have to contend (and comply) with state and local laws, that may have different standards and penalties.
Yes, Employers Can Still Have Unpaid Interns (Under the Right Circumstances)
In the past, we’ve explained the DOL’s test for whether employers must pay their interns. Put simply, public employers and qualifying not-for-profit entities do not have to pay their interns. I hope that our more recent discussions of lawsuits that demonstrate the ever-narrowing segment of lawful unpaid internships have spurred some discussions and re-examination among readers of this blog who have internship programs. Judging by some of the calls and e-mails we have received since then, employers have begun seriously considering whether those unpaid internships are really free labor. However, hope is not lost—it is still possible to have unpaid interns under the right circumstances, as one recent New Jersey case demonstrated.
A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing is Still a Wolf: The FLSA Regular Rate and Breach of Contract
Recently, I read about a construction contractor in Los Angeles caught in the middle of litigation between its subcontractors and the city, on behalf of the subcontractor’s former employees. According to the employees, the subcontractors had allegedly promised to pay them the prevailing wage for that area of $49.00 per hour, but had only paid them $5.00 to $8.00 instead. Ultimately, the complaint focused on the subcontractors’ falsification of records and misclassification of employees, and related city and state law violations, rather than which rate was the real “regular rate” for FLSA purposes: the proper $49.00 per hour prevailing wage rate the subcontractors had promised, or the actual $5.00 to $8.00 rate they paid. But what if the employees had sought overtime based on the higher rate? Would dressing up a breach of contract claim as one for overtime under the FLSA have worked?
Unanimous Supreme Court Rules Employer Need Not Pay for Worker Security Screenings: Integrity Staffing Solutions, Inc. v. Busk
In October, we profiled Integrity Staffing Solutions, Inc. v. Busk, a case asking whether time spent in security screenings is compensable under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Warehouse workers sued Integrity Staffing under the FLSA for uncompensated time they were required to spend in lengthy security screenings (lasting up to 25 minutes) at the end of their shifts during their assignments to work in Amazon warehouses. At the time, we suggested that it would be “hard to envision a result different” from last term’s Sandifer v. U.S. Steel case. This prediction came true, but from a unanimous Supreme Court, rather than a sharply divided one. The Court held that the employees at Integrity Staffing Solutions facilities in Nevada could not claim compensation for the time spent going through security screenings aimed at protecting against theft because these activities were not integral and indispensable to their principal duties.
Automatic Meal Period Deductions and the FLSA [Wage and Hour FAQ]
As you know, under the FLSA, “bona fide meal periods” are not regarded as work time and can be unpaid. For a break to qualify as a bona fide meal period, “[t]he employee must be completely relieved from duty for purposes of eating regular meals,” and the break must generally be at least 30 minutes or longer. The rules even allow periods shorter than 30 minutes to qualify as unpaid “under special circumstances.” For example, in a 2004 opinion letter, the Department of Labor found that an employer could permissibly reduce its 30-minute unpaid lunch break to 20 minutes and provide an extra 10 to 15-minute paid break, given that the employer and employees’ union agreed to the arrangement and that it took employees only one to one-and-a-half minutes to reach the break room once they were relieved from duty.
DOL Sets February 2015 Deadline for New FLSA “White Collar” Overtime Exemption Regulations
Late last month, the Department of Labor released its Fall 2014 Agency Rule List that included a range of proposed regulations covering everything from the FMLA definition of “spouse” to labor union annual reports and persuader rules. Most importantly for readers of this blog, though, the DOL added an entry to its list for a proposed rule to implement President Obama’s directive to modernize and streamline FLSA regulations for executive, administrative, and professional employees. The DOL now expects to publish the rule by the end of February 2015, according to this filing with the Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA).
The Minimum Wage in 2015: Looking Ahead to State Increases, Other Changes
With the election season behind us and 2015 fast approaching, employers need to start looking ahead to the new year when, traditionally, a host of new laws take effect. As we discussed after the election, 2014 was a busy year for wage and hour laws, and 2015 will be no different. Four states—Alaska, Arkansas, Nebraska, and South Dakota—voted to increase their minimum wages beginning as early as January 1, 2015. Those are not the only states that will see changes to the minimum wage in 2015, though.
Feed Me! Thanksgiving Turkeys, Free Lunches, and Wage and Hour Law
With the Thanksgiving holiday ahead of us, we have reached the time of year where some employers start handing out Thanksgiving turkeys, holiday hams, and other gifts to employees, while others provide free or discounted lunches or other meals. You will find plenty of articles extolling the productivity virtues of well-fed employees. Employers in various industries—from hospitality to high technology to manufacturing—often have many good business reasons to provide meals, from cutting back on waste to teambuilding.
Wage and Hour Cases to Watch at the Supreme Court: Part 2–Perez v. Mortgage Bankers Association
As we discussed recently, this month marked the opening of the Supreme Court’s new term. For employment law practitioners, this session will be particularly busy with seven cases analyzing a range of employment questions, from the scope of the EEOC’s duty to conciliate discrimination claims to the applicability of whistleblower protection laws and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act. In Part 1 of this series, we discussed Integrity Staffing Solutions, Inc. v. Busk.
Video Interview: Discussing the Election’s Impact on Wage & Hour Laws with LXBN TV
Following up on my post on the subject, I had the opportunity to discuss the impact of the 2014 Election on wage and hour laws around the country.
If I was Secretary of Labor: Fixing the FLSA with a Safe Harbor
Last week, I answered some of the questions that we have been receiving about the new FLSA regulations, but I saved one that I hear almost everywhere I go: what should the Department of Labor do with the FLSA? Last week, I said “start over.” Of course, that’s not going to happen. Scrapping the FLSA and starting over is not an option right now, realistically or politically. If I was Secretary of Labor, what would I do? Develop a safe harbor for employers.
Fear and Loathing in D.C.: More Thoughts and Predictions about the New FLSA Regulations
For most of the year, we have been discussing the upcoming FLSA regulations and what employers can expect related to the white collar exemptions. Recently, the DOL delayed the release of proposed rules, potentially for several months. The DOL’s announcement has raised a host of questions, some of which I discussed with SHRM’s legal editor, Allen Smith, this week. The DOL’s own “savage journey to the heart of the American Dream”—at least the part of it that defines how you must be paid while chasing it—continues to raise questions for employers (apologies to Hunter S. Thompson fans…I couldn’t resist). With Election Day upon us, it is a good time to take a deeper look at this issue and review some of the top questions we have received on this topic.