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In a closely watched – and closely decided – ruling, today the Supreme Court upheld the enforceability of class and collective action waivers in employment arbitration agreements.  Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, 137 S. Ct. 809, 2018 U.S. LEXIS 3086 (May 21, 2018) (consolidated cases). The Court’s decision resolves the circuit split on whether…

After years of litigation, this week the Supreme Court concluded that service advisors who work in an automobile dealership are exempt from overtime under the FLSA.  Much more profoundly, the Court unequivocally rejected the principle, a longstanding bane to employers, that FLSA exemptions should be “narrowly construed” due to the Act’s status as a “remedial”…

The California Supreme Court has held that, under state law, when an employee earns a flat-sum bonus during a pay period, the overtime pay rate will be calculated using the actual number of non-overtime hours worked by the employee during the pay period. Alvarado v. Dart Container Corp., 2018 Cal. LEXIS 1123 (Cal. Mar. 5,

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Last week the Supreme Court heard – for the second time – oral argument in Encino Motorcars, LLC v. Navarro.  At issue is whether “service advisors” at dealerships are covered by what’s known as the “automobile dealer” exemption set forth in Section 213(b)(10)(A) of the FLSA.  That exemption excludes from overtime any “salesman, partsman,…

Former students at a cosmetology and hair design school with locations in California and Nevada were interns and not employees entitled to wages under the FLSA or state law, the Ninth Circuit has held.  Benjamin v. B&H Education, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 25672 (9th Cir. Dec. 19, 2017).  In so concluding, the Ninth Circuit…

As anticipated following last week’s decision by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, striking down the Department of Labor’s May 2016 Final Rule regarding the FLSA’s “white collar” overtime exemptions, the DOL has asked the Fifth Circuit to dismiss its appeal of the district court’s preliminary injunction invalidating the Rule last…

Under Washington State’s meal break statute, an employer must provide an employee working five or more consecutive hours a 30-minute meal period, although employees may waive the meal break under state law.  In answering questions certified to it by a federal district court, the Washington Supreme Court first explained that the statute does not provide…

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has set oral argument for October 3rd (revised 8/30/2017) on the Obama-era overtime pay rule that has been blocked from government enforcement by a federal district court in Texas since last November.  The DOL under the Trump administration already has backed away from the government’s previous position, asserting…

U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta announced on June 7, 2017, the immediate withdrawal of two Wage and Hour Division Administrator’s Interpretations (“AIs”) on joint employment and independent contractor status issued by the Obama administration.

Administrator’s Interpretation No. 2016-01, issued in January 2016, addressed joint employment under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and…