On January 23, 2023, President Biden re-nominated Jessica Looman to formally become the next Director of the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the Department of Labor (DOL). Ms. Looman originally was nominated for the position in August 2022 and made it out of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions in late
Jeffrey W. Brecher
DOL Issues 15-Day Extension of Comment Deadline for Proposed Independent Contractor Rule
On October 13, 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), seeking to revise the standard for determining whether a worker is an employee or “independent contractor” under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The NPRM proposes to withdraw the current regulations, issued during the last days of…
White House Nominates Acting DOL Wage & Hour Administrator to Lead Division
Four months after its controversial nominee, David Weil, withdrew his name from contention as Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the Department of Labor (DOL), the White House has nominated Acting Administrator Jessica Looman to head the post. Prior to joining the DOL as Principal Deputy Administrator of the WHD at the…
DOL Announces Plan to Issue New Independent Contractor Final Rule
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has announced its intention to issue a new final rule regarding the employee-vs.-independent contractor analysis under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). That announcement came by way of a June 3, 2022, blog post from Jessica Looman, Acting Director of the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division. The current Independent…
Supreme Court to Review Fifth Circuit’s Oil Rig “Day Rate” Case
In April 2020, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that paying an employee a set amount for each day that he works (i.e., on a “day rate” basis) does not satisfy the “salary basis” component required to qualify as overtime-exempt under the Fair Labor Standards…
Biden’s Wage and Hour Division Head Nominee Fails In Senate
Earlier this year, the absence of Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) from a meeting of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee enabled David Weil, President Biden’s nominee to head the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the Department of Labor (DOL), to make it out of the committee, where his nomination had been languishing for…
Restaurant’s Mandatory Service Charge Was Not a Tip and May Satisfy FLSA Wage Requirements, Eleventh Circuit Holds
A Miami restaurant’s mandatory 18% service charge did not constitute a “tip” under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and therefore was properly applied toward satisfying the FLSA’s employee wage requirements, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit recently held, affirming summary judgment in favor of the employer. Compere v. Nusret Miami, LLC…
Preliminary Motion Seeking to Invalidate DOL’s Dual Jobs Final Rule Fails
Recently we reported on the efforts of the Restaurant Law Center (RLC), an independent public policy organization affiliated with the National Restaurant Association, to invalidate the Dual Jobs Final Rule published by the Department of Labor (DOL). To that end, in early February the RLC filed a motion for preliminary injunction in federal court in…
Lawsuits Filed Challenging the DOL Dual Jobs Final Rule, $15 Federal Contractor Minimum Wage
Several recent lawsuits have been filed in federal court, one challenging the Dual Jobs Final Rule published by the Department of Labor (DOL) that became effective in late December 2021, and two others filed this week by several state attorneys general challenging President Biden’s Executive Order requiring most federal contractors to pay a minimum wage…
Wage and Hour Division Nominee Clears First Senate Hurdle (Barely), Proposed Salary Increase for Overtime-Exempt Employees Appears Likely
Last week, Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) was absent from the meeting of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee – and that spelled good news for the Biden Administration’s nominee to head the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the Department of Labor, Dr. David Weil. The nomination of Dr. Weil, who previously held the…