There have been a host of wage hour cases in the energy industry and I have often commented upon these. Many concern misclassification issues and another example of this phenomenon has arisen where a class of pipeline inspectors has requested that a federal court approve a settlement amounting to more than $2,000,000 where the theory
Fluctuating Work Week Calculation of Back Due Overtime Not Allowed by Pennsylvania Supreme Court
I have long been a fan of the fluctuating work week (FWW) method of paying overtime to non-exempt salaried employees. This computation yields a half-time calculation, i.e. a lower calculation than dividing the salary by forty and then calculating time and one half of that number. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has recently held that this
Changing Employees From Exempt to Non-Exempt “With the Season” Is Legal!
Many industries and businesses are seasonal and I have been often approached with a client question to the effect of whether the client can change the exempt status of workers, depending on the season. This occurs, for example, in the case of an employee who is the Head Coach of an athletic team for a
Another Federal Appellate Court Rules That FLSA Applies to Cannabis Industry
The truth is that cannabis has now become (and continues to become) big business and the issue of regulation, much, none or in the middle, is now coming to the forefront in legal circles. Many firms (my own included) have cannabis practice groups and are advising companies in this burgeoning field about the rules of
Cannabis Workers Allege Off-the-Clock Violations and Other Employer Misdeeds
Employees of cannabis companies have the same rights as workers who are employed by any other entity. A California cannabis company knowingly withheld wages, meal breaks and rest periods from its employees, according to a lawsuit filed by a former worker who accused the company and a separate marketing firm of violating state labor laws.
Plaintiff Attorney Fees in FLSA Cases: The Frustrating, Driving Force in These Cases
I read a very interesting article in the Epstein Becker Wage & Hour Defense Blog, whose sentiments I wholeheartedly agree with. It concerns the issue of attorney fees for plaintiff lawyers in FLSA/wage cases. The blog post notes that often, these lawyers get big dollar fee awards, while the allegedly victimized people they represent get
Third Circuit Examines FLSA ‘Willfulness’ Standard: ‘Reckless’ vs. ‘Egregious’
The issue of willfulness is very important in FLSA cases because such a finding extends the statute of limitations from two years to three. The standards utilized in making these decisions have been established but their application to particular situations often is difficult. A recent example of this tenet has just emerged in a case
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
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