In the latest chapter in the ongoing saga regarding contract attorneys claiming to be overtime eligible, Judge Ronnie Abrams of the Southern District of New York ruled that a contract attorney reviewing documents for litigation firm Quinn Emanuel was “practicing law” and thus exempt from overtime pursuant to 29 C.F.R. § 541.304(a)(1). Henig v.
FLSA
Ohio Federal Court Rules Home Care Agency Not Required To Pay Overtime To “Companions” During Temporary Vacatur Of New Federal Rules
By Noel P. Tripp on
Posted in Department of Labor, Exemptions
Providing much needed guidance to industry employers still wrestling with fallout from the United States Department of Labor’s drastic reduction to the scope of the companionship exemption, District Court Judge Sandra S. Beckwith held this week that a home care agency properly relied on the temporary vacatur of the DOL’s new federal regulations in…
Illinois Judge Holds that Individual Liability Under FLSA Requires Both Ownership and Operational Control
By Noel P. Tripp on
The definition of an “employer” under the FLSA is, like a number of FLSA provisions, not well defined, as set forth in a long and thoughtful opinion from Judge Manish S. Shah of the Northern District of Illinois. Schneider v. Cornerstone Pints, Inc., 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 166993 (N.D. Ill. Dec. 1, 2015). However,…
Ohio Federal Court Rejects Challenge to Application of Companionship Exemption to Home Health Aide
By Noel P. Tripp on
Posted in Exemptions
Last week, an Ohio, a federal judge held that a home health aide failed to demonstrate that she performed general housework unrelated to the care of her patients, and therefore qualified as a provider of companionship services under the Fair Labor Standards Act’s previous formulation of the “companion” exemption. As such, the home health…
When Will The DOL Issue Final Regulations Increasing The Salary Basis Threshold?
By Noel P. Tripp on
Posted in Department of Labor, Exemptions
Since the United States Department of Labor announced its intention, in response to the President’s directive, to more than double the salary basis necessary to qualify for the “white collar” exemptions from overtime, the business community has swung into action. Employers and associations have both been lobbying for a more modest increase to the minimum…
Court Finds Employer Entitled to Flexibility Under FLSA In Determining Employee’s “Workweek”
By Noel P. Tripp on
Posted in Hours of Work
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, covered employers must pay non-exempt employees overtime wages for hours worked in excess of forty in a workweek. To comply, while employers must define the workweek, they retain the flexibility to do so as they see fit, as demonstrated by venerable Brooklyn-based federal Judge Jack Weinstein in a new…
Corrections Officers’ Pleading Did Not Establish That County Was “Primary Beneficiary” Of Unpaid Meal Period
By Noel P. Tripp on
Time spent by employees in meal and other breaks continues to prompt litigation against public and private sector employers. In a recent decision, the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled that corrections officers at a Pennsylvania prison failed to allege a violation of the FLSA by challenging the County’s failure to compensate them…
Home Care Fallout: Increased Institutionalization?
By Noel P. Tripp on
Posted in Department of Labor, Exemptions
Five days into the DOL’s enforcement of the new rule rendering most home health aides eligible for overtime under the FLSA, questions abound regarding how state Medicaid and Medicare-funded programs will comply with the rule within their current budgets. One new report cautions consumers of home health care and their advocates to be aware…
DOL Enforcement of Home Care Rule to Commence November 12, Subject to “Prosecutorial Discretion”
By Noel P. Tripp on
Posted in Department of Labor, Exemptions
Chief Justice Roberts’ denial of the Home Care Association of America’s request for stay of issuance of mandate confirms that the new rule rendering many home health aides overtime-eligible is effective, pending appeal. In response to that denial, Wage-and-Hour Administrator David Weil issued a new policy statement confirming that the Department’s “non-enforcement period” for the…
Trauma Registrar Properly Classified As Exempt Administrative Employee Due To Exercise Of Discretion
By Noel P. Tripp on
Posted in Exemptions
Rejecting a claim that the position lacked “discretion and independent judgment,” an Indiana Federal Court recently found a trauma registrar for a Level III Trauma Center to be an exempt administrative employee. Brown v. Ind. Univ. Health Ball Mem’l Hosp., 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 141921 (S.D. Ind. Oct. 19, 2015).
In Brown,…