I have blogged about and have long been concerned about working time issues and what constitutes compensable work hours. One of the thorniest of these issues is on-call time and when, if at all, on-call hours become working time. A recent case throws light on this issue, as a Court has held that an
Exemptions
Case Interpreting FLSA Highly Compensated Exemption Takes Interesting Slant
There has not been much litigation over the HCE, the so-called Highly Compensated Employee exemption under the FLSA. Recently, an interesting case explored the issue of whether commission payments can form the entirety of the required salary. In Pierce v. Wyndham Vacation Resorts, Inc., a federal court interpreted this exemption to determine this issue. The…
The Beat Goes On for the New USDOL Overtime Rule
I remember with fondness the Sonny & Cher song, “The Beat Goes On.” That song could be easily applied to the saga of the USDOL overtime rule, which continues. Although the proposed rule has been shot down by the Fifth Circuit, the USDOL will now request that the Fifth Circuit reverse a Texas federal court…
Third Circuit Ruling Gives Employers Some Relief On “Willfulness” Claims In FLSA Collective Actions
In every FLSA class action I have defended (as well as every demand letter I have seen on this subject) the plaintiff’s lawyer always alleges that the violations were “willful.” It does not matter what the facts are. No, they say, the violations are “always” willful. The violations rarely, in fact, are. Now, the Third…
More Law Firms Hit With FLSA Misclassification Claims: A Cautionary Tale
I have written a number of times about law firms that have been sued in FLSA actions. Another example. Employees have sued two Florida personal injury law firms, alleging that they were misclassified and not properly paid proper overtime wages in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. In fact, there are two class actions…
Bank Files Cert Petition to US Supreme Court On Administrative Exemption: The Neverendng Story
There have been so many cases involving employees in the financial services industries and their exempt status or lack thereof. In another variation on this theme, Provident Savings Bank is seeking review by the US Supreme Court of a Ninth Circuit decision that gave new life to allegations that its mortgage underwriters are non-exempt and…
Urban Outfitters Decertifies FLSA Class: Too Many Individual Differences (Again)
I have blogged (somewhat incessantly, I admit) about manager FLSA class actions and what the line(s) of defense are for the employer in these cases, and how to defeat these cases. Another case in point. A federal judge has now decertified a collective class, following the Magistrate Judge’s recommendation against the class continuing…
Obama-Proposed DOL Overtime Rule Invalidated: Back to Square One
Well, it finally happened. A Texas federal judge struck down the Obama Administration’s proposed changes to the FLSA overtime regulations, which would have made millions of more people eligible for overtime. The Court’s theory was that the U.S. Department of Labor used a salary level test that was excessive in determining whether workers should be…
Oil Energy FLSA Exemption Collective Action Settles: The Right Move By The Employer
No industry is immune to FLSA collective actions and the energy industry is seeing a significant uptick in these actions. In this regard, a class of workers employed by an oil field services company has just agreed to a $2.1 million deal to settle a Fair Labor Standards Act collective action alleging that the company…
Another FLSA Class Action Alleging Misclassification Settles: What Else Is New?
It is difficult to defend a class action based on exemption, which explains why many of these cases (as herein) settle. This is because the employer-defendant is (usually) going to be completely right, or totally wrong. Either the class of workers (especially if the exemption at issue is professional or administrative) will meet the regulatory…