Recently, we told you about President Obama’s Executive Order increasing the minimum wage for employees of federal contractors to $10.10 per hour. Tomorrow, President Obama is expected to announce that he will sign two new executive orders that will apply to federal contractors: (1) one order will forbid retaliation by federal contractors against employees that discuss their compensation with other employees; and (2) the other order will require federal contractors to maintain certain records on compensation organized by race and gender, and report that data to the federal government. These Orders are being issued to further advance the Administration’s cause of equal pay for women.
Seventh Circuit Takes Matters into Its Own Hands in FLSA Donning and Doffing Case (Part 2 of 2)
Yesterday, we discussed the first part of the Seventh Circuit’s recent decision in Mitchell v. JCG Industries penned by Judge Richard Posner. When it was released, I tweeted:
Seventh Circuit Gets (Maybe Too) Clever in FLSA Donning and Doffing Case (Part 1 of 2)
A few weeks ago on Twitter, I remarked on Mitchell v. JCG Industries, a case from the Seventh Circuit penned by Judge Richard Posner:
FLSA Revisions Won’t be Quick or Easy
Recently on Twitter, I commented that revising the FLSA regulations won’t be quick or easy. Speaking of Twitter, if you’re not following @WageHourInsight yet, why not? I find lots of interesting tidbits every day that don’t make it here to the blog, and you can follow along with some of the more free-wheeling conversations HR professionals have on the very same topics we discuss here.
Do You Have to Pay Summer Interns?
Summer has arrived and many employers have already supplemented their operations with student interns, but the question we see crop up repeatedly is, “do I have to pay interns?” In the last few years, with a more competitive job market and corporate focus on reducing costs, we have seen an increase in the use of unpaid interns. Unfortunately, not all internships can be unpaid.
Will Comp Time Become a Reality for the Private Sector?
On May 8, the House of Representatives passed a bill that would allow private sector employers to offer hourly workers the option of taking compensatory (“comp”) time in lieu of paid overtime. The bill seeks to amend the Fair Labor Standards Act to allow private sector employers to offer comp time at a rate of 1.5 hours per hour of overtime worked instead of paying cash wages at time-and-a-half the employee’s regular rate for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek.
Supreme Court Holds that "Mere Presence" of FLSA Collective-Action Claims Cannot Save a Lawsuit Where Named Plaintiff’s Individual Claims Are Moot
Some good news for employers. In a recent 5-4 opinion, the U.S. Supreme Court held that collective-action claims brought under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) are moot when the named plaintiff has no continuing personal interest in the outcome of the lawsuit and no motion for conditional certification has been filed. Genesis Healthcare Corp. v. Symczyk, Case No. 11-1059.
What Do You Mean I Have To Pay My Nanny Overtime?!
As a working mom, I am lucky to have a husband who is a stay-at-home parent. Rarely do I have to worry about being late to work because I have to drop my child off at school, or leaving work early to take my child to an after-school activity or doctor’s appointment.
DOL’s Misclassification Initiative Continues
Iowa is the latest State to sign a Memorandum of Understanding and join forces with the U.S. Department of Labor to combat employee misclassification. Although Labor Secretary Solis has announced her resignation, it appears that the Misclassification Initiative that she championed continues, at least for now.
Minimum Wage Increases in 2013
With the New Year comes a minimum wage increase in 10 states: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Missouri, Montana, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. Each of these states has a higher minimum wage rate than the federal minimum of $7.25/hour. Employers in these states are required to pay the higher state minimum wage.
Don’t Forget to Include Non-Discretionary Bonuses in Overtime
As 2012 comes to a close, we inevitably receive questions related to year-end bonuses. Last year, I posted about whether employers were required to pay a pro-rata bonus to those employees who left their employment before the bonus was paid out. This year, I thought it might be helpful to remind employers of certain rules relating to bonus payments made to non-exempt employees.
Properly Prorating Salary for Exempt Employees
If you are a regular reader of this blog, you are hopefully familiar by now with the notion that exempt employees generally must be paid their full weekly salary for all workweeks in which they perform any work. There are certain limited exceptions to this rule. For example, if an exempt employee starts or ends employment mid-workweek, the employer may prorate the employee’s salary accordingly. This calculation is easy fairly easy if the employer uses a weekly pay period – just take the regular weekly salary, divide by the number of days that salary usually covers (e.g., 5), and multiply by the number of days the employee was employed.
Voting Leave for Election Day
As mentioned in a recent FR alert, “Time Off to Vote?,” written by my colleague Sally J. Scott, Illinois requires employers to allow employees who are eligible to vote up to two hours of paid time off while polls are open (from 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.) on Election Day. For wage and hour purposes, employers should consider the following when determining whether an employee is entitled to this type of paid leave:
Can We Mandate Direct Deposit? [Wage & Hour FAQ]
Q. We would like to require employees to accept pay via direct deposit. Is this permitted?
Another Celebrity Chef Runs Afoul of Tip Pooling Rules
Shortly after my co-author, Bill Pokorny, wrote about celebrity and Iron Chef Mario Batali’s multi-million dollar settlement of a class action tip pooling lawsuit, another celebrity chef here in Chicago was sued for violating tip pooling laws. In March 2012, a lawsuit was filed against Master Chef Graham Elliot by 14 former employees over tip pooling requirements at his self-titled restaurant.