Generally, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires employers to pay at least minimum wage (currently $7.25) for all non-overtime hours in a workweek. However, subject to any contradictory state laws, an employer may pay a “tipped employee” – one who customarily and regularly receives at least $30 per month in tips – a reduced
Douglas J. Hoffman
Service Charge or Administrative Fee? A Distinction With a Difference, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Holds
By Douglas J. Hoffman & Brian E. Lewis on
Although it may have intended for a customer charge to be treated as an administrative overhead fee separate from gratuities paid to its employees, a country club’s reference to the amount as a “service charge” in some documents necessarily required that the amount retained be paid to the employees, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts…
Lack of Alignment Between Employer’s Payroll Workweek and FLSA “Workweek” Results in Overtime Liability, First Circuit Holds
By Douglas J. Hoffman on
Posted in Hours of Work, Wage and Hour
Although the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) includes an overtime exception for employees who reside on the work premises for an “extended” period of time – at least 120 hours in a “workweek” – that exception is inapplicable if an employer’s payroll workweek does not coincide with an employee’s scheduled workweek for at least that…
“Catalyst” Test Applicable to Awarding Attorney’s Fees for State Wage and Hour Claims, Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Holds
By Douglas J. Hoffman on
Rejecting the federal standard for determining whether a party has “prevailed” on his or her claim under the Massachusetts Wage Act, Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 149, §§ 148 & 150, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has held instead that the less-stringent “catalyst” test applies. As a result, plaintiffs who received $20,500 in a settlement under…