In recent years, one significant issue that has plagued industries employing tipped employees is whether the employers must ensure that tipped employees retain all of their tips even if the company is not using the employee’s tips to satisfy part of the minimum wage pursuant to the FLSA’s “tip credit” provision, 29 U.S.C. § 203(m). … Continue Reading
Today the Trump Administration, through the Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, released the federal government’s semi-annual Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions. This agenda provides public notice of the regulatory actions the various agencies of the Executive Branch anticipate taking in the coming year. Among the items listed … Continue Reading
The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that it will reinstate the Department’s long-standing practice of issuing opinion letters to employers and employees regarding application of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The Obama Administration eliminated opinion letters in favor of broader “Administrator Interpretations,” but those were few and far between. “The letters were a division … Continue Reading
The New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL) has appealed the Industrial Board of Appeals decision that invalidated and revoked final regulations issued by the NYSDOL which would have significantly restricted the use of payroll debit cards and imposed new disclosure and consent requirements for direct deposit. The regulations (12 NYCRR §192) were to become … Continue Reading
The Fifth Circuit granted the government’s request for additional time to file its final reply brief in the pending appeal of a nationwide injunction issued by a Texas District Court Judge, blocking the DOL’s controversial overtime rule raising the required salary level for the white collar exemptions. The final reply brief will not be filed … Continue Reading
The government has asked for another delay in submitting its final brief to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals regarding the DOL’s Final overtime rule, which raised the salary level for the white collar exemptions from $23,660 to $47,476. The final reply brief was scheduled to be filed on May 1, 2017, after two earlier … Continue Reading
An online ticket broker that sells tickets to concerts, sporting events, and the theater qualifies as a “retail or service establishment” under Section 207(i) of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), Judge John Lee of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois held. Blahnik v. Box Office Ticket Sales, LLC, 2017 … Continue Reading
The appeal regarding the validity of the federal overtime rule will not be fully briefed until May 1, 2017, according to an order issued by the Fifth Circuit on February 22, 2017, granting an unopposed request by the Department of Justice for an extension. When the Department of Labor first appealed the nationwide injunction issued … Continue Reading
Before the election the Department of Labor asked the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to expedite its appeal regarding the validity of the DOL’s Final Rule, which increased the salary level for the white collar exemptions. Earlier this week, however, following the inauguration of President Trump, the Department of Labor made the opposite request, asking … Continue Reading
Earlier today, the Department of Labor filed an unopposed motion to extend the deadline for its next submission in support of its appeal of the salary basis rule injunction. The motion for extension requested until March 2, 2017 to submit the Department’s reply brief to the Fifth Circuit, and expressly stated that the extra time … Continue Reading
In the latest round in the litigation between 21 States, led by the State of Nevada, and the Department of Labor regarding the Final Rule, the State Plaintiffs filed their appeal brief today with the Fifth Circuit, urging the Court to affirm the district court’s order, which issued a nationwide injunction blocking the rule. “As … Continue Reading
Sen. Bernie Sanders, along with twenty-five other members of Congress, have filed an amicus brief in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals urging the Court to reverse the injunction issued by a Texas federal judge enjoining enforcement of the Department of Labor’s recent increase to the salary basis threshold for the white collar exemptions under … Continue Reading
The Texas AFL-CIO recently filed a motion to intervene as a defendant in the action filed against the Department of Labor (DOL) regarding its highly publicized regulation expanding overtime coverage. Fearing the DOL under President-Elect Donald Trump might abandon its appeal to the Fifth Circuit of a nationwide preliminary injunction issued by a Texas District … Continue Reading
On December 2, one day after filing its appeal of the preliminary injunction blocking its new salary basis regulations, the DOL filed a request for expedited briefing and oral argument in the appeal. The DOL has requested that the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals set an expedited schedule whereby briefing would be complete on February … Continue Reading
In a stinging defeat to the Obama Administration, a district court in Texas today issued a nationwide preliminary injunction blocking the DOL’s Final Rule which seeks to raise the required salary level to qualify for the white collar exemptions. An article discussing the decision in more detail and the ramifications for employers will be posted … Continue Reading
Jackson Lewis Principal Eric Magnus contributed to this post. The U.S. Department of Labor regulations raising the required salary level for the white collar exemptions (executive, administrative, and professional) under the Fair Labor Standards Act are scheduled to become effective December 1, 2016. Since the results of Tuesday’s election, some employers are considering whether to … Continue Reading
The U.S. House of Representatives yesterday voted 246 to 177, largely along party lines, in favor of legislation which would delay the rule’s effective date by six months, from December 1, 2016, to June 1, 2017. Prior to the anticipated late night vote on the bill in the House, Senator James Lankford (R-Okla.) introduced the legislation … Continue Reading
Following a pair of lawsuits aimed at blocking the Labor Department’s “white collar” overtime rule, House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections Chair Tim Walberg (R-Michigan) introduced legislation which would delay the rule’s effective date by six months, from December 1, 2016, to June 1, 2017. The proposed legislation, entitled The Regulatory Relief for Small Businesses, Schools, and … Continue Reading
The anticipated legal challenges to the Department of Labor’s Final Rule regarding the salary level for white collar exempt employees were lodged yesterday through two separate lawsuits filed in the Eastern District of Texas. State of Nevada et al v. United States Department of Labor et al, E.D. Texas 16-CV-731; Plano Chamber of Commerce et … Continue Reading
While Department of Labor regulations interpreting the FLSA remain the primary source of employer guidance regarding the Act’s requirements, they are not necessarily the final word on what federal wage law requires. This is so even where they have been subject to “notice and comment,” triggering a higher level of judicial deference. A federal court … Continue Reading
The U.S. Department of Labor has issued a new FLSA poster, available for download here. Covered employers should replace old posters with the Department’s new versions. Employers should periodically review their compliance with FLSA and state law posting and notice requirements, particularly as related to tipped workers.… Continue Reading
On July 26, 2016, Judge William S. Duffey of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia issued a decision holding that an employer does not have to ensure tipped employees retain all of their tips if the company is not using the employee’s tips to satisfy part of the minimum wage … Continue Reading
News outlets are reporting that the new salary basis rule will take effect on December 1, 2016, and require a salary of $47,476 per year ($913/week). Reports also indicate that the new rule will require an update of the salary threshold every three years, as opposed to annual increases. This effective date provides employers a … Continue Reading
The Department of Labor is expected to issue its long-awaited Final Rule regarding the white collar exemptions on Wednesday, at an event in Ohio attended by Vice President Biden and Secretary Perez, Politico reports. It is expected the Final Rule will increase the salary level requirement for white collar exemptions to approximately $47,000, and provide … Continue Reading
