The issue of whether athletic referees are independent contractors has surfaced a few times in the last few years. Here, in Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (the PIAA) that engages these referees has agreed to settle with a group of these individuals for $260,000 to close out a FLSA action, based on misclassification. The
New USDOL Wage Hour Administrator Issues Opinion Letter Finding Paralegals Can Be Exempt: A New Day Dawning!
New USDOL Wage Hour Administrator Issues Opinion Letter Finding Paralegals Can Be Exempt: A New Day Dawning!
Under the Trump Administration, there has been a return to the issuance of Opinion Letters which I have highly applauded. I also applaud the rather pro-employer stance that many of these Letters have reflected. Another example of both
Joint Employer Angle Gives Interesting Twist to FLSA Truck Driver Collective Action
The whole trick for a plaintiff (and his lawyers) in a FLSA collective action case is to try to get conditional certification. Once that happens, the stakes automatically escalate for the defendant-employer, often leaving settlement as the most viable and cheapest manner of resolving the case. This process becomes more complicated when there is, as
Differing Views on New Salary Level for Exempt Status Set By USDOL: No Surprises Here
Now that the USDOL has established $35,000 per year as the new threshold for exempt status, several groups have already taken shots at that new salary level. The deadline for comments has ended and we will see what happens. However, worker advocate groups have assailed the rule and urged the agency to revert back to
No OT for Hourly Paid Nurses in Offbeat Texas Lawsuit
This is a very interesting case. A group of nurses at a Texas hospital claimed they their employer intended to pay them an annual salary rather than an hourly rate and thus they were owed no back wages. They won in the lower court and appellate court but, now, the Texas Supreme Court has reversed,
Another Automatic Lunch Deduction FLSA Collective Action: How Many Times Does It Have to Happen?
I have blogged numerous times about these automatic lunch deduction cases and have suggested remedies. Yet, these cases proliferate. Another very recent example is that of a hospital that has agreed to pay more than $4,000,000 to settle a FLSA collective action where the workers allege that their employer violated the Fair Labor Standards Act
The Good Faith Defense as a Complete Bar to Wage Claims? Yes, It Is!
When the Department of Labor, whether USDOL or a state agency, issues an Opinion Letter on a certain topic/issue or follows a consistent course of conduct vis-à-vis a particular employer, that employer is allowed to rely on that letter or administrative practice or enforcement policy. The Opinion Letter or consistent practice then acts as a
The USDOL And The Joint Employer Doctrine: The Saga Continues
The USDOL has proposed a new cut-down (watered down?) test for determining when entities are a joint employer. Such a finding leads to the aggregating of employee hours which are worked at both places as well as rendering the entities jointly liable for wage-hour (e.g. overtime) violations.
The focus of the new proposal is a
New DOL Proposed Rule Will Affect What Is included (or Not) in Regular Rate for Overtime Calculation
Even the most well-intentioned employer who wants to comply with the FLSA will have trouble, as there are many gray, nuanced provisions and regulations in this law, especially on overtime computation. One of these is the requirement to include non-discretionary bonuses in the overtime calculation of non-exempt workers. That may now be changing as the
Another Successful Labor Contract Preemption Defense Prevails in FLSA Collective Action: Defense Practitioners Must Always Look for It!
What do I always say? If an employer is sued in a FLSA action, collective or otherwise, and is unionized, always look for a National Labor Relations Act/Labor Management Relations Act preemption defense. Well, it has happened again! A federal judge has dismissed a collective action alleging that a rehabilitation center did not pay nurses