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
Multiple sources are reporting that the DOL’s Final Rule regarding the exempt status salary basis threshold will set the minimum salary at approximately $47,000 per annum, rather than the previously-reported $50,440. While the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is still reviewing the proposed rule, the rule may clear OMB within the next few weeks, … Continue Reading
Multiple sources have reported that yesterday the USDOL sent the proposed final overtime rule to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for its mandatory review. If OMB’s review is completed on an expedited basis, DOL could disseminate the proposed final rule to the public by mid-April, with an effective date potentially as early as … Continue Reading
On Friday, the United States Supreme Court agreed to resolve the current split among the Circuit Courts regarding whether “service advisors” are exempt from overtime under the 213(b)(10) exemption, an exemption applicable to any “salesman, partsman, or mechanic” who is primarily engaged in “selling or servicing automobiles.” Both the Fourth and Fifth Circuits have held … Continue Reading
Providing much needed guidance to industry employers still wrestling with fallout from the United States Department of Labor’s drastic reduction to the scope of the companionship exemption, District Court Judge Sandra S. Beckwith held this week that a home care agency properly relied on the temporary vacatur of the DOL’s new federal regulations in electing … Continue Reading
Since the United States Department of Labor announced its intention, in response to the President’s directive, to more than double the salary basis necessary to qualify for the “white collar” exemptions from overtime, the business community has swung into action. Employers and associations have both been lobbying for a more modest increase to the minimum … Continue Reading
Five days into the DOL’s enforcement of the new rule rendering most home health aides eligible for overtime under the FLSA, questions abound regarding how state Medicaid and Medicare-funded programs will comply with the rule within their current budgets. One new report cautions consumers of home health care and their advocates to be aware of … Continue Reading
Chief Justice Roberts’ denial of the Home Care Association of America’s request for stay of issuance of mandate confirms that the new rule rendering many home health aides overtime-eligible is effective, pending appeal. In response to that denial, Wage-and-Hour Administrator David Weil issued a new policy statement confirming that the Department’s “non-enforcement period” for the new rule will end on November … Continue Reading
Cases challenging the independent contractor status of certain service providers under the wage-and-hour laws are likely to continue in the near future due to the difficulties in applying the law to complex factual patterns. The Department of Labor recently provided additional guidance for determining contractor status in the form of an Administrator’s Interpretation (and the … Continue Reading
Employers anxiously await the final regulations codifying the upcoming changes to the FLSA white collar exemptions. Those who seek to “read the tea leaves” regarding the rulemaking process based on the comments submitted by the public at large have a lot of work to do, as the Department announced it received in excess of 247,000 … Continue Reading
In a letter to Congress, Wage-and-Hour Administrator David Weil yesterday stated that the Department would not extend the 60-day comment period for providing feedback regarding the Department’s proposed rule, indicating that “a comment period of this length . . . will meet the goal . . . of ensuring Department has level of insight from … Continue Reading
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit today ruled that the U.S. Department of Labor’s decision to reverse its prior position and extend the FLSA’s minimum wage and overtime protections to employees of third-party agencies who provide companionship services and live-in care within a home was a reasonable interpretation of the law. The … Continue Reading
Bringing some degree of clarity to the murky question of whether parties can dismiss a pending FLSA lawsuit on their own volition, the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has ruled that any dismissal with prejudice requires “the approval of the district court or the DOL to take effect.” Cheeks v. Freeport Pancake House, … Continue Reading
As previously promised, the Department of Labor today issued its eighth Administrator’s Interpretation (“AI”) since the 2010 implementation of this form of guidance. Today’s Interpretation, as expected, reflects the current Department’s position that the governing analysis is the economic realities test which, in the Department’s view, is used to determine “whether the worker is economically … Continue Reading
White House coverage reports that the revamped white collar exemption regulations will be released this week, and will include a salary basis requirement more than double the current federal level. Reports peg the new salary basis requirement at $50,440 per year, or $970/week, with future adjustment linked to the 40th percentile of income. This news … Continue Reading
“Administrator’s Interpretations” from the Wage Hour Division have been relatively few and far between since their implementation in 2010. However, on Friday Administrator David Weil, speaking at a conference at New York University School of Law, indicated his office would be issuing such an interpretation to “clarify” who qualifies as an independent contractor under the … Continue Reading
In a lengthy report entitled “Rethinking Overtime” commissioned by the National Retail Federation, Oxford Economics analyzes the likely impact on businesses of the anticipated rise in the salary required for exempt status, one of the expectations of the Department of Labor’s review of the exemption regulations. The report, available here, notes that only where an … Continue Reading
