General Wage & Hour Law News & Updates

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The last several years have been quite worrisome to me, as a management side practitioner, on the issue of USDOL agency-initiated liquidated damages assessments. It used to be that only when the USDOL took an entity to court did it seek liquidated damages. Then, some years ago, during the Obama Administration, the agency began seeking…

The other day I went to the eye doctor and, before I could go in, an employee checked my temperature. This phenomenon is going to become perhaps a constant fact of life when businesses open, employees return to work and employers want to be sure that they are virus-free and the workplace is safe. That…

I have been writing about wage hour issues that are implicated or raised by the continuing COVID-19 situation. Well, here’s another one. I warn that as businesses start to open up (or not), employees (and, more to the point, plaintiff-side lawyers) will be seeking to sue employers on a number of grounds, some of which…

The USDOL has been pretty busy lately issuing new rules and interpretations about FLSA issues, including vague, nuanced issues like the inclusion (or not) of bonuses in the regular rate and the circumstances under which employers can utilize bonuses. The agency has again issued such a clarification allowing employers to provide bonuses (and hazard pay)…

Many wage-hour/overtime actions are brought against restaurants; this is, and has been for some time, a disturbing pattern. Coupled with this trend is the fact that it seems that this industry has certain “customs” on paying workers that give plaintiffs a seeming leg up in these actions. So, it warms my heart when these suits…

We are seeing states start to re-open and businesses start to come back to life and bring their employees back. There are many difficult economic issues that surround these developments, not the least of which is the continuing need to comply with the Fair Labor Standards Act (and state wage and hour laws). These issues…

Well, here we are, still in the midst of this horrible COVID-19 pandemic, staying home, scared to go out, wearing masks and gloves, but yet, the first lawsuit(s) involving virus issues have already been filed. In this instance, right in my home state of New Jersey, a hair stylist has filed a class and collective…

The USDOL has been quite busy lately in issuing regulations and other guidance relating to the provisions in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. With that said, the “regular” business of the agency continues as best as it can. One of these functions is the issuance of Opinion Letters which, as I have written about…

I am getting deluged with inquiries from clients, some very agitated, about what they should do, or can do, vis-à-vis their non-exempt work forces and how these folks can be properly paid, but at the same time remain compliant with the Fair Labor Standards Act. As a basic premise, employees must receive at least the…

The Corona Virus scare is causing employers to lay people off and reduce their hours. For non-exempt, hourly people this is fairly easy, from a legal perspective, because if non-exempt people do not work, they do not get paid. The case is tougher for exempt workers. The FLSA requires employers to pay exempt employees at…