The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has released its Final Rule updating regulations governing “joint employer” status under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The regulations have not been updated in more than 60 years.
Articles Discussing What Employers Are Covered By The FLSA.
Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow: Seventh Circuit Rejects Claim That Cosmetology Trainees Were Employees
Former cosmetology students are not employees entitled to pay under the FLSA and various state laws, the Seventh Circuit holds, rejecting the Department of Labor’s six-factor test but declining to adopt any bright-line test. Hollins v. Regency Corporation, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 15076 (7th Cir. Aug. 14, 2017).
House Introduces Bipartisan Bill Designed to Ease Joint Employer Uncertainty
On July 27, 2017, House Republicans unveiled a bill, entitled the Save Local Business Act, that would amend two labor and employment statutes to clarify when an entity can be deemed a “joint employer.” At a press conference debuting the legislation, several of its sponsors, along with supporters from the business community, spoke about the need for the legislation.
Fourth Circuit Decision Establishes New Six-Factor Test for Determining Joint Employment under the FLSA
On January 25, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit established a new six-factor test to determine whether two or more entities are joint employers for purposes of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). Salinas v. Commercial Interiors Inc., No. 15-1915, ___ F.3d ___, 2017 WL 360542 (4th Cir. Jan. 25. 2017). The resulting standard is unique from other circuits and appears to expand joint employer liability under the FLSA.
Fourth Circuit Pronounces Joint Employer Test Under FLSA
On Jan. 25, 2017, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, which has jurisdiction over North and South Carolina, issued an opinion in a collective action wage and hour case setting forth a six-factor test for determining whether two persons or entities constitute joint employers under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Salinas v. Commercial Interiors Inc., Opinion No. 15-1915. On the same day, the court also issued another opinion in two consolidated wage and hour cases under the FLSA, applying the six-factor test and reversing the district court’s dismissal of the cases. Hall v. DirectTV, LLC, Opinion Nos. 15-1857 and 15-1858. These opinions resolve some uncertainty regarding joint employment determinations under the FLSA that had been created by the varying tests used by district courts within the Fourth Circuit and set forth a broader, more expansive approach to joint employment determinations under the FLSA than under Title VII. A discussion of the Fourth Circuit’s joint employment test under Title VII can be found here.
Legal Alert: Eleventh Circuit Finds DHL Express Not a Joint Employer under FLSA
Executive Summary: On July 9, 2012, a federal appeals court in Georgia affirmed the dismissal of DHL Express, Inc., from a lawsuit brought by a class of current and former delivery drivers alleging overtime violations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). According to the court, an assessment of the economic realities of the case did not reveal an employment relationship between DHL and the drivers.