FLSA

There’s no free lunch … or free work

04/21/2022

The Fair Labor Standards Act requires that you pay at least minimum wage for all hours worked by employees. In almost all cases, “free” work is illegal, and you can’t just get around that requirement by citing “noncompensation” in a job ad, or by having an employee sign away their rights to compensation.

Is misclassification an unfair labor practice?

04/21/2022

Employers struggling to correctly classify independent contractors already have to worry about complying with Department of Labor and Internal Revenue Service rules. They may soon have to add the National Labor Relations Board to the list of federal agencies looking over their shoulders.

Trainee or pro? Legal lessons from the minors

04/07/2022

Baseball is back now that the pandemic is largely in the rear view mirror and Major League Baseball owners and the Major League Baseball Players Association have signed a new collective bargaining agreement. But not every baseball-related labor dispute has been resolved. Down in the minor leagues, a players’ lawsuit could upend decades of pay practices.

Workers can’t sign away their rights to overtime

03/17/2022

A California home care agency was ordered last month to pay $315,000 in unpaid overtime to 158 workers. The owner unlawfully required hourly workers to sign an agreement to be paid straight time for each pay period.

Ensure bosses accurately track employee hours

02/17/2022

The Fair Labor Standards Act requires employers to accurately track all the time employees work. In many organizations, the task falls to front-line managers and supervisors. That sometimes creates a conflict: Bosses under pressure to control labor costs may be tempted to require employees to work off the clock.

DOL raises penalties for 2022

02/15/2022

The Department of Labor has announced the 2022 inflation adjustments to penalties for violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, the FMLA and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

Never manipulate pay or hours to avoid OT

02/10/2022

Tempted to play loose with the overtime rules to save money on labor? Bad idea. You will attract the Department of Labor’s attention.

Let FLSA guide policy on pay for vaccinations

02/03/2022

OSHA’s vaccinate-or-test mandate is gone, but confusion remains for employers with their own vax policies wondering whether they must pay employees for time they spend getting covid shots.

A $1.4 million lesson: Misclassifying workers can lead to personal liability

11/18/2021

Making the employee-or-independent-contractor decision should always be a well-researched and documented choice. One main reason: While most lawsuits claiming misclassification of independent contractors are brought against corporate entities, many federal and state laws also allow workers to sue company execs directly for personal liability in such cases.

Train executives on FLSA classification rules

11/11/2021

Plaintiffs’ lawyers love to file lawsuits alleging an employee was improperly classified as a manager under the Fair Labor Standards Act. That’s because just one misclassification mistake can force employers to pay out hundreds of thousands of dollars in back pay and penalties. Avoid that fate by training everyone with the authority to set job duties, schedules and pay how to properly classify workers as either exempt or hourly.