The New York City restaurant industry has, over the last several years, been hit with a flood of lawsuits. Many of these have focused on illegal tip pools but many have also alleged that employees were misclassified as exempt. These cases often generate large liabilities for employers and must be avoided. A recent example of
COVID Related Wage Increases Includible In Regular Rate In FLSA Overtime Case
I have blogged many times about cases where relatively small amounts of compensation, bonus type compensation, are not included when an employer calculates the regular rate for overtime and a class action ensues. Now, this is happening with COVID-related bonuses and extra monies. A recent example is a case where a group of workers have
Third Circuit Shoots Down Exorbitant Demand For Attorneys’ Fees Where Plaintiffs Win Only A Few Thousand Dollars: There Is Hope!
A big part of defending any wage hour case and settling such a case is the issue of attorneys’ fees for the plaintiff’s lawyer. Plaintiff attorneys are always having grandiose notions of what they are entitled to and these issues often become the deal breaking issue of the litigation. Well, maybe us defense lawyers are
Second Circuit Takes Hard Line On FLSA Willfulness Standard: Defense Practitioners Given A New Weapon!
Every time a plaintiff files a FLSA lawsuit, they seek a third year, one longer than the usual two year statute of limitations, claiming that the violations were “willful.” It has become a matter of course and defendant attorneys must begin any settlement negotiations knowing that the amount claimed has been artificially inflated with a
Inadequacy Of Class Counsel Undermines Certified Class: Defense Counsel Must Always Be Looking For A Way Out
I read an interesting article in the Morrison & Foerster blog the other day about a case where a class was de-certified because it appeared there was a problem with the lawyers for the class. As the blog post notes, defense counsel must always be looking for a way to terminate (i.e. dismiss) the case,
Spring Ahead, Fall Back, Pay Now, Pay Later: Daylight Savings Time And The FLSA
This Sunday was Daylight Savings Time and we pushed the clocks ahead by one hour. This is, on a human level, a welcome event, as it signals winter’s end. Now, I can fling away any vestiges of Seasonal Affective Disorder and turn my attention to outdoor activities. Employers, however, must be vigilant on the particular
Employees Working In Slaughterhouse Settle FLSA Overtime Case: When Will Employers Learn?
It is amazing to me that employers still do not understand that there exists an inviolate obligation on their parts to pay proper overtime. It is not proper for an employer to believe that if it treats its employees “well,” or if its business is “green” and it tries to do the right thing by
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
USDOL Opening Door (A Little) On Section 7(i) Commission/Retail Exemption After Rescission Of Outdated Lists
There has been a lot of action lately from the USDOL on the issue of the Section 7(i) exemption from overtime (29 USC 207(i), the so-called commission exemption. One of the basic requirements for an employer trying to claim this exemption is that it must be in a “retail business.” Until May 2020, this was
FLSA Joint Employer Doctrine At Issue In Health Care Industry Overtime Class Action: A Warning To That Industry!
In FLSA cases, plaintiff lawyers are always looking for a deep pocket and one of the avenues they use towards this “goal” is the joint employer doctrine. That doctrine allows more than one employer to be liable for employee damages (e.g. overtime, back wages) if the employers are found to co-determine employee terms and conditions