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
overtime
Sixth Circuit Holds That Worm Farmers Exempt from Overtime Requirements of FLSA
The Fair Labor Standards Act exempts “employee[s] employed in agriculture” from its overtime requirement. Recently, the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit applied this exemption to the operations of an employer who “moved to the United States from his native France in 1992 to grow worms,” and affirmed the district court’s decision holding that…
New York Federal Court Finds Business Properly Classified Translators As Independent Contractors
This month, two New York federal judges reviewing a claim of misclassification rejected a claim for overtime compensation, agreeing that a business properly classified two translators as independent contractors rather than as “employees” under the Fair Labor Standards Act and the New York Labor Law. See Mateo v. Universal Language Corp., 2015 U.S. Dist.…
Following Supreme Court Direction, Maryland Federal Court Rules Waiting Time Not Compensable
The United States Supreme Court’s 2014 decision in Integrity Staffing clarified that, under the Portal-to-Portal Act, preliminary and postliminary tasks are not compensable even if potentially done for the employer’s benefit, provided they are not integral and indispensable to the job functions for which a person is hired. Applying this concept, a Maryland Federal Court…
New Jersey Supreme Court Confirms “ABC Test” for New Jersey Wage Claims
Visit the Jackson Lewis Workplace Resource Center here for a detailed analysis of the New Jersey Supreme Court’s decision in Hargrove v. Sleepy’s, LLC, 2015 N.J. LEXIS 38 (N.J. Jan. 14, 2015), finding the “ABC test” for contractor status applicable to claims brought under New Jersey state wage statutes.
Team Leaders at Processing Facility Properly Classified as Exempt
Division of supervisory duties among different classifications of exempt employees sometimes gives rise to claims that some or all of those managerial employees do not qualify for the executive exemption. Analyzing and rejecting one such challenge, an Arkansas federal court recently concluded that “Team Leaders” at one of the nation’s largest frozen food processing…
Pennsylvania District Judge Upholds Computer Professional Exemption To Technician
The scope of the computer professional exemption, enacted prior to the widespread use of the Internet and before the existence of some of the most well-known tech companies (e.g., it was enacted prior to the existence of Google), is often a source of litigation, as employers and the courts attempt to apply…
Joining Second Circuit, First Circuit Rejects Highly Compensated Workers’ Challenge to Salary Basis Test
The “highly compensated” regulation is designed to relax the exempt status tests for the white collar exemptions for individuals who make more than $100,000 per year in total compensation. 29 C.F.R. § 541.601(a). Nevertheless, challenges to exempt classification of such workers can arise, with the employee claiming he or she still was non-exempt based on…
(Another) Cable Provider Not Joint Employer of Installers
One common “joint employer” allegation which has been regularly rejected by courts is that a regional cable provider is a joint employer of its installation subcontractors’ employees or contractor installers, due to the alleged business or operational control the cable provider exerts over the subcontractor in how installation work is performed. A Missouri…
DOL Policy Statement Delays (Government) Enforcement of Home Care Overtime Rule
In response to pressure from state governments and others fearing the increased cost of home care services, the Department of Labor announced Tuesday that it would delay its own enforcement of the new rule requiring that previously-exempt “companions” receive minimum wage and overtime. The DOL’s Policy Statement stated that the DOL would not…