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
Courts continue to wrestle with preemption issues, the tension between sweeping federal laws purporting to regulate an industry or industries and laws enacted at the local level, such as labor laws impacting labor costs. In the most recent example, the Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit rejected a cargo airline’s argument that the Airline … Continue Reading
The legality of a given employee’s participation in a tip pool under the FLSA turns on whether the participants are “Tipped employees” under 29 U.S.C. § 203(t). The specific question is whether they “engaged in an occupation in which [they] customarily and regularly receive[] more than $ 30 a month in tips.” A new decision … Continue Reading
Judge William Terrell Hodges of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida recently ruled that an employee with an LPN degree who was responsible for managing an employer’s workers’ compensation claims qualified for the administrative exemption. Hodge v. ClosetMaid Corp., 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 45490 (M.D. Fla. Apr. 2, 2014). In … 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
One defense commonly asserted to retaliation claims under the FLSA (and most other anti-retaliation statutes) is whether the complaint or activity allegedly leading to the alleged adverse action constituted “protected activity” under the relevant statute. Seeking to clarify this standard, a Florida District Court Judge found the alleged complaints were not sufficiently specific to constitute “protected … Continue Reading
As widely reported, on May 8, 2013, the New York City Council passed the Earned Sick Time Act, providing time off for illness, either paid or unpaid depending on an employer’s size, to certain employees who work a minimum of 80 hours in a calendar year. While Mayor Bloomberg has vetoed the Act as a … Continue Reading
FLSA plaintiffs from time to time seek to include potential “deep pocket” defendants as alleged “joint employers,” claiming that the alleged joint employer’s control over the entity which employed them was sufficient such that FLSA liability should attach. Recently, another federal court joined the growing body of decisions rejecting such claims. Diaz v. U.S. Century Bank, 2013 … Continue Reading
The state minimum wage is set to increase in eight states at the start of the new year. By statute, many states review and revise their respective minimum wage annually, to reflect changes in the cost of living. San Francisco, one of several municipalities with its own minimum wage law, will also increase its minimum … Continue Reading
Per an announcement on the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation’s web site, the state minimum wage will increase, effective June 1, 2011, to $7.31 per hour. Under the Florida Minimum Wage Act (which applies to all workers covered by the FLSA), the Agency is required to adjust the Florida minimum wage pursuant to a calculation based … Continue Reading
Reacting to outcry from the employer community, on June 3, 2010 the Miami-Dade County (FL) County Commission amended its recently enacted wage ordinance which defined “wage theft” as failing to pay an employee any portion of his or her wages within 14 calendar days of the work having been performed. Prior to this amendment, the ordinance potentially … Continue Reading
Federal law merely mandates that employers pay employees as promptly as possible. State and local laws often require employers to pay wages no less frequently than weekly/bi-weekly/semi-monthly or monthly. And often these requirements differ based on the type of employees. For example, in New York, only manual workers need to be paid weekly but most … Continue Reading
