Working Time

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I have defended many cases in which the employee(s) claim they worked through lunch and are owed wages (or, usually, overtime).  These cases are usually difficult to defend unless the employer either compels employees to punch out and in for lunch or has another kind of fail-safe mechanism to account for this time, if legitimately…

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…

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…

What gets a lot of employers into trouble is the failure to keep accurate records. Or worse, the actual falsification of records or knowingly keeping and maintaining inaccurate records. Nothing will cause the DOL to come down harder on an employer and for the courts to back up the agency. A recent example of this…