By Michael Kun
Last week, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division and the California Secretary of Labor announced that they were teaming up to crack down on employers who classify workers as independent contractors. http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/whd/WHD20120257.htm
The announcement that the two groups would work together on such an initiative should not come as much of a surprise to employers. Shortly after Hilda Solis took office as the U.S. Secretary of Labor, the Wage and Hour Division announced that it would be focusing on this issue. And California has ...
We are pleased to announce that Epstein Becker Green’s first app - Wage & Hour Guide for Employers - is now available for download in the App Store on iTunes, for both iPhones and iPads. You can find this complimentary app by searching for “Wage Hour” or clicking here.
The Wage & Hour Guide app enables employers to access up-to-date federal wage and hour guidelines as well as various state guidelines, which can differ by jurisdiction. In addition, users can obtain insights and commentary about the latest wage and hour developments and issues by accessing this blog directly ...
By Dean Silverberg, Evan Spelfogel, Peter Panken, Douglas Weiner, and Donald Krueger
Reversing its prior stance, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) proposes to extend the minimum wage and overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) to domestic workers who provide in-home care services to the elderly and infirm. See Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to Amend the Companionship and Live-In Worker Regulations. In 1974, when domestic service workers were first included in FLSA coverage, the DOL published regulations that provided an exemption for such ...
By Peter M. Panken, Michael S. Kun, Douglas Weiner, and Larissa Lalor-Rosado
Misclassification of employees as exempt from overtime compensation has become a cottage industry for plaintiff’s lawyers and for the United States Department of Labor (“DOL”) in the Obama years. One of the most difficult issues is whether employees meet the so-called administrative exemption to the Wage Hour laws. In Hines v. State Room, the United States Circuit Court in New England offered some clarity and help to beleaguered employers holding that former banquet sales managers were exempt ...
by Dena L. Narbaitz and Marisa S. Ratinoff
While everyone awaits the California Supreme Court's ruling in Brinker Restaurant Corp. v. Superior Court (Hohnbaum) – which is expected sometime in early 2012 and will determine the scope of an employer's meal and rest period obligations – employers must not lose sight of other important developments in California employment law. Below are brief summaries of some of the legislative enactments in California that will affect employers. Unless otherwise noted, these laws will take effect on January 1, 2012.
By Michael Kun
On January 1, 2012, the minimum wage for employees working in San Francisco will rise to $10.24 per hour.
This is, to our knowledge, the first time the minimum wage in any U.S. city has ever exceeded $10 per hour.
Employers with employees in San Francisco will need to make sure that they make appropriate adjustments to their payroll systems and practices to account for the increase.
By: Michael Thompson
In Ibanez v. Abbott Laboratories, Inc., the Eastern District of Pennsylvania issued the latest ruling in the ongoing dispute over whether pharmaceutical sales representatives are exempt from the overtime requirements of the FLSA.
The plaintiff in Ibanez was a former sales representative for Abbott. Among other things, the plaintiff helped create “business plans which tracked doctors by market share and potential.” The plaintiff also developed “game plan[s] or strateg[ies] for individual calls with physicians.” Thus, the District Court ruled ...
By David Garland and Douglas Weiner
In February 2011, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit gave a resounding victory to employers in the pharmaceutical industry by finding that pharmaceutical sales representatives are covered by the outside sales exemption of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). Christopher v. SmithKline Beecham, No. 10-15257 (9th Cir. Feb. 14, 2011). Plaintiffs, and the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) in an amicus brief, had argued the exemption did not apply because sales reps are prohibited from making the final sale. Prescription ...
by William J. Milani, Jeffrey M. Landes, Susan Gross Sholinsky, and Jennifer A. Goldman
For the first time, in 2012, New York employers must provide all New York employees with an annual notice and acknowledgment of pay rate and pay date ("Notice") pursuant to the Wage Theft Prevention Act ("WTPA"), which amended the New York State Labor Law ("Labor Law"), effective April 9, 2011.
As we previously reported (see Act Now Advisory "Governor Paterson Signs Overhaul of New York State Labor Law" (Dec. 15, 2010), and Act Now Advisory "They're Here – New York State Department of Labor Issues ...
On November 16, 2011, the New Jersey Appellate Division held that registered nurses are exempt from overtime compensation under the New Jersey Wage and Hour Law (“NJWHL”), N.J.S.A. 34:11-56a1 to 56a30, even if paid on an hourly basis, because they fall within the “professional” exemption. Anderson v. Phoenix Health Care, Inc., A-2607-10T2 (N.J. App. Div. Nov. 16, 2011). The Court further held that, even if registered nurses were not exempt, a claim for overtime compensation may nevertheless fail under the NJWHL’s good faith exception, N.J.S.A.
Blog Editors
Recent Updates
- Federal Appeals Court Vacates Department of Labor’s “80/20/30 Rule” Regarding Tipped Employees
- Time Is Money: A Quick Wage-Hour Tip on … Regular Rate Exclusions
- Michigan’s Supreme Court Has Spoken: Expanded Paid Sick Leave, Increased Minimum Wage and Phased Out Tip Credits
- California Supreme Court Concludes That PAGA Plaintiffs Lack Standing to Intervene in Other PAGA Lawsuits
- Time Is Money: A Quick Wage-Hour Tip on … Offering a Compliant Payroll Debit Card Option to Employees