Department of Labor

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Perhaps no single exemption classification under the FLSA has been subject to as much scrutiny, or generated as much inconsistent authority from courts and the United States Department of Labor, as the classification of loan officers in the mortgage banking industry.  In 2013, the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit invalidated the Department of…

Finally filling the vacant seat of Wage-and-Hour Administrator, the U.S. Senate confirmed the appointment of Boston University Professor David Weil to the position.  Prevailing sentiment among business and labor leaders is that Administrator Weil’s administration will take a hard line on enforcement of the FLSA, consistent with the Obama administration’s publicized view that…

The Department of Labor continues carrying out its aggressive regulatory agenda, releasing the much-anticipated final rule extending FLSA minimum wage and overtime protection to direct care workers such as home health aides, personal care aides and certified nursing assistants working for home care agencies and other domestic services employers, and reversing the application of …

Newly appointed Labor Secretary Thomas Perez addressed the 2013 AFL-CIO Convention earlier this week, providing details on the Obama Administration’s legislative and administrative wage-hour agenda for the remainder of the President’s second term. The wage-hour agenda likely will be overseen by the President’s new nominee for Wage and Hour Administrator, Dr. David Weil, a professor…

After an at times testy and contentious confirmation proceeding, on July 18 the United States Senate confirmed President Obama’s nomination of Thomas Perez as the new Secretary of Labor, replacing the departed Hilda Solis. Some Republican Congressmen had questioned Perez’s conduct in a qui tam action in Minnesota.  Mr. Perez’s Senate confirmation vote was…

Building upon its prior efforts to leverage contemporary technology, the Department of Labor has announced an “app” competition, inviting the public to create an app to incorporate its data regarding labor investigations “with consumer ratings websites, geo-positioning Web tools, and other relevant data sets, such as those available from state health boards.” This is…

In 2010, the Department of Labor announced it would cease its “opinion letter” practice, wherein employers could submit written questions regarding application of the FLSA and its implementing regulations, and receive guidance. Replacing the opinion letter structure were “administrator interpretations,” wherein the Department would simply issue an advisory opinion on its own volition.  Contemporaneous with announcing…

Revisiting a concept for the first time since 2009, a House of Representatives Sub-Committee recently conducted a hearing regarding the Working Families Flexibility Act (H.R. 1406). The Act, proposed on April 9, seeks to amend the FLSA to permit private sector employers to compensate employees for overtime work by providing compensatory time off (e.g., “comp time”)…

The Department of Labor often challenges an employer’s independent contractor classification, even when such classification is a matter of long-standing, industry practice.  Such disagreements can result in DOL audits or even DOL litigation seeking alleged unpaid minimum wage and overtime, as well as private enforcement actions. In a recent victory for employers involving litigation brought…