In a televised meeting this afternoon, New York’s recently-convened Fast Food Wage Board confirmed industry employers’ fears and announced its unanimous recommendation that the wage for “fast food employees” in “fast food establishments” be increased to $15/hour by December 31, 2018 in New York City and by July 1, 2021 in the rest of New … Continue Reading
In an op/ed piece appearing in yesterday’s New York Times, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced he would direct the Commissioner of Labor to convene a new Wage Board “to examine the minimum wage in the fast-food industry” in New York state. The Commissioner’s announcement follows on the heels of a separate op/ed suggesting this … Continue Reading
Last week, a Pennsylvania federal judge held that a former cosmetology school student was not entitled to minimum wage as an “employee” under the Fair Labor Standards Act or the Pennsylvania Wage Payment and Collection Law. Jochim v. Jean Madeline Educ. Ctr. of Cosmetology, Inc., 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 45663 (E.D. Pa. Apr. 8, 2015). … Continue Reading
In one of the most comprehensive circuit court opinions to address application of Section 207(i) of the FLSA—the provision of the law that allows employers to comply with the overtime provisions of the FLSA by paying commissioned employees of a retail or service establishment at least 1.5 times the minimum wage, instead of their regular … Continue Reading
The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently revisited the Department of Labor’s four-part test for purposes of determining whether a person qualifies as a “public service volunteer.” In a new decision applying the Second Circuit’s fact-intensive standard, Southern District of New York Judge Jesse M. Furman ruled in favor of the City of … Continue Reading
In New York, the cash wage due to tipped workers will increase to $7.50 at the end of the year, following an Order from acting Commissioner of Labor Mario Musolino. Commissioner Musolino accepted this recommendation from the Wage Board convened by his predecessor. This order will reduce the tip credit to $1.50/hour off the minimum … Continue Reading
As reported by our colleagues at the New York State Restaurant Association, the current Wage Board, convened to examine the state of the tip credit under New York law, today voted on, but ultimately rejected, a motion to eliminate the tip credit entirely. Tip credits under federal and state wage laws permit an employer to … Continue Reading
Whether a function of recent legislation or a rule tying the minimum wage to inflation, the minimum wage will increase in more than a dozen states in the new year, as it did last year. These changes impact workers at or near the minimum wage (including, in many cases, tipped workers), and also impact other … Continue Reading
Click here for a summary of the wage rate changes triggered by the previously-scheduled December 31, 2014 increase to the New York minimum wage.… Continue Reading
Demoralized by the attendant costs of litigation and a shifting compliance environment in numerous jurisdictions, many hospitality industry employers have resolved wage-and-hour lawsuits brought in New York City and elsewhere over the last number of years. Bucking this trend, one such employer recently successfully defended its wage practices at trial. Mendez v. Int’l Food House, … Continue Reading
The term “severance pay,” is often used loosely, sometimes mixing together potential obligations under the law with those under employer policies, collective bargaining agreements or benefits plans. In many states, such as New York, there is no obligation to give severance as a matter of state labor law. See generally Glenville Gage Co. v. Industrial … Continue Reading
The high volume of FLSA litigation, particularly in jurisdictions such as New York and Florida, has in recent years forced many small businesses truly outside the scope of FLSA coverage to defend lawsuits brought pursuant to its minimum wage and overtime provisions. Typically, these smaller employers attempt to address the issue of coverage early in … Continue Reading
We recently reported on the decision of SeaTac, a Washington municipality and site of Sea-Tac Airport, to raise its minimum wage to $15/hour, the subject of subsequent, ongoing litigation. Now, the City of Seattle itself has, through its City Council, passed similar legislation seeking to raise the City’s minimum wage ultimately to the same $15.00/hour … Continue Reading
Despite encountering strong opposition to its proposals to raise the federal minimum wage and rewrite the Department of Labor regulations defining the exemptions from overtime under the FLSA, the White House is now requesting Congress raise the minimum wage for “tipped” employees. Through a report released last week, the President argues that the minimum wage … Continue Reading
Florida has maintained a separate minimum wage requirement since the 2005 passage of the Florida Minimum Wage Act (“Act”), which was authorized by the Minimum Wage Amendment (“Amendment”) to Article X of the Florida Constitution. Since then, courts have disagreed as to whether the Amendment provides the right to a separate cause of action to … Continue Reading
A Nevada federal court’s decision is consistent with other recent federal court decisions holding that an employee has no claim for allegedly misappropriated gratuities under § 203(m) of the FLSA if no tip credit is taken and the employee receives the full minimum wage before tips, as the FLSA does not create a property right … Continue Reading
As discussed in a recently released White House fact sheet and summarized more fully here, the President is expected to announce tonight during the State of the Union that his office will issue an Executive Order prospectively raising the minimum wage for federal contractors to $10.10. While many contractors pay higher rates pursuant to the … Continue Reading
Warring factions continue to litigate over the legal viability of SeaTac, Washington’s Proposition One, a local ordinance increasing the minimum wage for work performed in SeaTac – a close suburb of Seattle and site of Sea-Tac airport – to a whopping $15/hour, considerably higher than the state minimum wage in Washington or any of the … Continue Reading
Recognizing the need to provide clarity to the business community in light of voluminous litigation, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently agreed to hear appeals in the Fox and Hearst intern cases. Glatt v. Fox Searchlight Pictures Inc., Case Number 13-2467, 11/26/13. The Court will examine the different legal tests and … Continue Reading
In the latest in a series of decisions addressing the proper allocation of travel and immigration fee expenses between employers and employees utilizing the H2A agricultural guestworker program, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (the largest federal circuit, encompassing Washington, Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Nevada, California, Arizona, Alaska and Hawaii) ruled an employer must … Continue Reading
As discussed in greater detail here, the New York State Department of Labor’s revised Wage Orders, which were published in the administrative record on October 9, 2013 and set to become final by the time New York’s December 31 minimum wage hike becomes effective, implement a number of changes to the pay requirements and credits … Continue Reading
While the compensability of time spent in internship programs continues to be an hotly contested litigation issue, the United States Supreme Court has declined an opportunity to provide clarity in this area, denying certiorari to a Florida medical billing intern whose claim was rejected last year by the Eleventh Circuit. Kaplan v. Code Blue Billing … Continue Reading
Overriding the March 2013 veto by Governor Chris Christie of a proposed bill increasing the state’s minimum wage, New Jersey’s Democratic legislative majority successfully pushed through a constitutional amendment through a voter referendum (not subject to gubernatorial veto) to increase the New Jersey minimum wage from $7.25/hour to $8.25/hour effective January 1, 2014. This request is … Continue Reading
The legislation setting forth a schedule for increasing New York’s minimum wage has numerous implications for the New York employer community. On October 9, 2013, the Department of Labor published proposed amended Wage Orders for all industries which are effective as of December 31, 2013. The changes to the minimum wage implicate many facets of employee … Continue Reading
