Regular Rate

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The issue of whether expense reimbursements should be included as “wages” when computing the regular rate for overtime has been around for many years. Sometimes, an employer will seek to “disguise” wages as expenses in order to avoid overtime. Sometimes, expense reimbursement is just that. These principles are possibly to be explored by the US…

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…

The employer who is fighting a collective or class action must make the argument that there is too much of a need for individual scrutiny to allow a class to proceed.  There are times that argument works, and times it does not.  An Illinois federal Judge has recently conditionally certified a class of logistics workers…

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…

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)…

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…

The USDOL is busy again issuing Opinion Letters and has again turned its focus to the issue of inclusion/exclusion of bonuses into the regular rate for purposes of overtime computation.  These Letters are not binding on courts but they operate to evidence the agency’s position on whatever issue is being addressed so they are extremely…

Employers always have difficulty knowing what sums should be included in calculation of the regular rate and many employers unwittingly walk themselves into trouble by not knowing the intricacies of FLSA computation. Well, the USDOL is finally doing something about that. The agency just finalized a rule that allows employers to not include the cash…

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…