Wages & Hours

Be prepared to explain pay disparities

02/27/2023

It’s fine to pay some workers more than others. The key is understanding the federal Equal Pay Act and its state equivalents.

Supreme Court authorizes overtime for highly paid supervisor

02/24/2023

In a 6-3 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 22 ruled that Michael Hewitt, an oil rig supervisor who regularly earned more than $200,000 per year, is entitled to overtime pay.

Florida man: DOL sets sights on Sunshine State employers

02/21/2023

Feb. 16 was a bad day for Florida employers that recently ran afoul of the Department of Labor. On just that one day, the DOL announced fines and recoveries worth almost $400,000.

DOL never forgets: Slaps millions in penalties on repeat wage offender

02/03/2023

A commercial painting contractor in Las Vegas must have thought federal investigators would forget about his history of stiffing employees. He was wrong.

Survey: More employers taking action on pay equity

01/31/2023

WorldatWork’s latest Pay Equity Study found that 70% of organizations were taking action on pay equity in 2022, a 10% increase since 2019 and a 4% increase over 2021.

Court dismisses EPA case as push for pay equity intensifies

01/18/2023

To win an EPA case, the worker must show that the opposite sex was paid more for “equal work requiring substantially similar skill, effort and responsibilities performed under similar working conditions.” That’s increasingly difficult in a work environment where numerous new jobs rely on extremely specialized skills, making it almost impossible to prove jobs are substantially similar enough to allow a comparison.

Pay for travel time to voluntary OT shift?

01/17/2023

If an hourly employee has to travel from one location to another to continue their principal activities during the workday, then that’s paid time. Commuting time, however, is unpaid. But what if an employee completes a full shift at one location and voluntarily takes on an overtime shift at a different location?

DOL cracks down on employers that break teen work schedule rules

01/17/2023

The Department of Labor ended 2022 and began 2023 with a series of enforcement actions against employers that violated the rules governing how and when teenage employees can work.

DOL to propose new OT threshold by May

01/11/2023

Millions more white-collar employees could become newly eligible for overtime pay later this year. The Department of Labor has confirmed plans to update the overtime salary threshold by May.

Court calls working beyond pay grade intolerable

12/15/2022

Generally, workers must be turned down for a job, demoted or fired before they can sue their employers and allege discrimination as the reason. But as with many things in life, there’s an exception—the concept of constructive discharge holds that if an employer makes the employee’s work life “intolerable,” that justifies quitting. The worker can then sue despite not having been fired.