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
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North Carolina Judge Upholds Employer Classification of Employee as Exempt Computer Professional
The rapidly evolving world of information technology can give rise to disputes regarding the applicability of the FLSA’s 20+ year-old exemption for “computer professionals.” A new decision reinforces that individuals whose job responsibilities require them to maintain large networks qualify for the exemption. Campbell v. Kannapolis City Schs. Bd. of Educ., 2014…
U.S. Open Tennis Umpires Properly Classified As Independent Contractors
Service providers vendors (and those vendors’ employees) are free to assert claims that they “employees” of the entity for which they are providing services under the FLSA under independent contractor misclassification and joint employer theories. Service providers continue to do so despite limited success, the most recent example being Judge Andrew Carter’s (SDNY) summary…
Manhattan Federal Court Finds Contract Attorney “Practiced Law,” Exempt From Overtime
An attorney and his lawyer made headlines recently when he asserted an FLSA claim against prominent Manhattan law firm Skadden Arps claiming the firm owed him overtime pay for his work as a contract attorney on large scale litigation handled by Skadden. On Wednesday, Judge Richard J. Sullivan granted Skadden’s motion to dismiss the claim. …
Interpreting Oracle, California Court Limits Application Of State Wage Laws Vis a Vis Out of State Employees
The California Supreme Court’s 2012 decision in Sullivan v. Oracle signaled, but did not conclusively rule, that no circumstances could support a California Labor Code claim by an employee working outside the State of California. However, a new California federal court decision emphatically holds that the application of California’s Labor Code should end at the…
Virginia Judge Rejects Highly Compensated IT Professional’s Misclassification Claim
The FLSA’s technical “white collar exemption” regulations, slated for review and potential overhaul later this year, allow plaintiffs’ attorneys and even the highly paid employees they represent to challenge exempt status. A recent decision from the Eastern District of Virginia rejects one such claim brought by a highly paid information technology worker paid a…
Fifth Circuit Finds Franchisor Was Not Employer Under Economic Realities Test
The judicially-devised “economic realities” test is designed to determine whether an individual is liable as an “employer” under the FLSA, typically in addition to a corporate entity. For the second time in the past few years, the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has ruled that a franchisor was not the “employer of an…
DOL States Plan To Issue Proposed Revisions To FLSA White Collar Exemptions In 2014
The Department of Labor recently released its 2014 Semiannual Regulatory Agenda, a non-binding statement regarding upcoming rulemaking. The Agenda provides a timetable for issuance of a proposed rule revising the regulations interpreting the Fair Labor Standards Act’s “white collar” overtime exemptions, in conformity with the President’s recent directive. As we often discuss, certain…
Eastern District of New York Senior Judge Deems FLSA Allegations Of Overtime, Contractor Misclassification Inadequately Pled
Following the Second Circuit’s clarification that an FLSA plaintiff must provide “sufficiently developed factual allegations” regarding hours worked (DeJesus v. HF Mgmt. Servs., LLC, 726 F.3d 85, 89-90 (2d Cir. 2013)), District Courts both within and outside the Circuit have sought to apply that standard to Fair Labor Standards Act complaints. In one…
General Contractors Defeat Claim of Joint Employer Status
Individuals employed by subcontractors in construction (and other industries) from time to time seek to go “up the food chain” and assert that control was exerted by general contractors on their job sites sufficient to render those general contractors “joint employers” for purposes of the wage laws. The goal of couse is to hold such…