There have been a host of federal cases recently focusing on whether time spent waiting in security lines is compensable. Some have gone for the plaintiffs and others for the employer, as these cases are nuanced and fact-sensitive. A recent example of this genre is a Nike case where the Company will pay $8.25 million
Doctrine of Practical Continuity Tested Again In Case Involving FLSA Motor Carrier Exemption
I have always been interested in the Motor Carrier Act (MCA) exemption of the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 USC 213(b)(1), especially in the doctrine of “practical continuity” which is one of the ways that interstate commerce is determined and have defended a number of cases where we had to rely on practical continuity for
Need For Too Much Individual Scrutiny Defense Fails: A Real Bummer!
The employer who is fighting a collective or class action must make the argument that there is too much of a need for individual scrutiny to allow a class to proceed. There are times that argument works, and times it does not. An Illinois federal Judge has recently conditionally certified a class of logistics workers
Paid Time Off For Getting The Vaccine: States Are Moving Towards That.
I have been asked many times by clients if they need to give employees paid time off in order to get the vaccine. I tell them (in New Jersey) that they are not compelled to do so, but it is a good idea. Some States have gone farther than just suggesting it is a “good
Biden DOL Withdrawal Of Trump DOL Opinion Letters Signals Major Pendulum Swing Towards Employees
I have often said that the USDOL is a politically charged industry and its view on legal issues (much like the National Labor Relations Board) shifts with the Administration that is in power. For example, under the prior administration, the agency took a pro-business stance and issued pro-business Opinion Letters on independent contractor and working
Disturbing Ninth Circuit Holding On Inclusion Of Per Diem Expense Reimbursement In FLSA Regular Rate
As a general rule, employee expense reimbursements are not includible in the regular rate for purposes of overtime computation. When the reimbursements, however, are unreasonable or out of whack (i.e. too high) as regards the particular expense, then the USDOL takes the position that the reimbursements are really a backdoor way of paying the employee
New Jersey Business Association Challenges Union Boondoggle Requirement of Mandatory Apprenticeship Program For Construction Employers
I do a great deal of prevailing wage defense on behalf of employers, both on a federal level (i.e. Davis-Bacon Act) and the State of New Jersey prevailing wage statute. It sometimes seems that trade unions are able to aggressively lobby the NJDOL to take administrative actions that militate against non-union employers or make it
Choice of Marty Walsh As Secretary of Labor Signals Huge Pendulum Swing
I have been praising the Opinion Letters which have, of late, been issuing from the US Department of Labor because, candidly, they are displaying a business friendly attitude, or should I say, a pragmatic approach to the thorny issues employers face in the maze of USDOL regulations. Well, this may all change as President Biden
Named Plaintiff in OT Class Action Dooms The Case By Her “Re-Inventing” Her Deposition Testimony: A Cautionary Tale!
In class actions there is always a named plaintiff (or two or three, etc). That person acts as the class representative and is the “flagship” for the entire case. When that individual does something to jeopardize their status as such a “representative,” the entire case might go away. That is precisely what happened in a
The Impact Of Working Remotely And FLSA Compensable Travel Time: Another USDOL Opinion Letter Nugget
Lately, there has been a lot of “action” from the USDOL on the thorny and misunderstood issue of travel time. The agency has just issued another Opinion Letter that addresses the issue of whether employers must pay workers for travel time on days when they spend part of the day working from home and the