Wage and Hour Defense Blog

By Michael Kun

If employers with operations in California believed that they could not possibly face more wage claims than they already do, they can think again.

The California Department of Labor Standards Enforcement (“DLSE”) – the state agency that addresses wage claims – has launched a new website designed to notify employees of their rights and explain how to file claims:

http://www.wagetheftisacrime.com/What-We-Do.html#laborCommissioner

The website provides detailed information about the various types of claims individuals may bring, and how to bring ...

By Michael D. Thompson

From restaurants in New York to childcare providers in Arkansas to the garment industry in Southern California, Department of Labor investigators continue to uncover FLSA violations by conducting unannounced workplace inspections.

Accordingly, in January, we released our Wage and Hour Division Investigation Checklist for employers and have received terrific feedback with additional questions. Following up on your questions, we will be regularly posting FAQs as a regular feature of our Wage & Hour Defense Blog.

We previously blogged about how to prepare ...

By Michael D. Thompson

The prohibition against private settlements of FLSA claims was scrutinized again last week, when U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York held that parties could voluntarily dismiss an FLSA lawsuit without obtaining approval of the settlement agreement from the court.  Picerni v. Bilingual SEIT & Preschool Inc. 

Courts in FLSA cases have historically expressed the concern that individual waivers of FLSA rights would enable employers to use their superior bargaining power to extract individual waivers from their employees and “thwart ...

By Douglas Weiner and Meg Thering

The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) has announced that it has been finding “patterns of violative pay practices” in gas stations throughout New York, Long Island, and New Jersey. Last year, in New Jersey alone, the Department of Labor, through its multi-year enforcement initiative, conducted 74 investigations of gas stations and ordered employers to pay over $1 million in back pay to employees.

As many commuters know, long daily and weekly hours are the norm for many employees in the gas station industry. Enhanced enforcement activity ...

By:  Kara M. Maciel

The Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division in Norfolk, Virginia has announced that it will be stepping up its compliance audits and enforcement efforts against area hotels. In the past few years, the DOL stated it found violations at about 60% of local hotels. According to the DOL, the agency recently made spot checks at 10 area hotels since April. This is just one part of the agency’s nationwide enforcement program and its “Plan/Prevent/Protect” initiative against the hospitality industry. Common violations assessed by the DOL include:

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President Obama just celebrated his first year in office and his Administration has been busy! Employers of all sizes are starting to see the effects of the Obama Administration's workplace agenda; especially at the Department of Labor (DOL). The watchword for all employers in the wage/hour arena for 2010 is "compliance."