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FLSA

Defying expectations: Why failing to live up to stereotypes won’t make worker’s suit a winner

11/01/2011
A unique case highlights a twist on the usual definition of discrimination: If an employee is fired for failing to live up to a stereotype about a particular race or nationality, she’s unlikely to win a discrimination lawsuit.

Are we allowed to round off hours worked?

10/31/2011
Q, My company tracks the hours of nonexempt em­­ployees using a time clock. In determining their wages, can we round up or down to the nearest five-minute increment?

Fixing misclassification? Pay the right amount

10/25/2011

Sometimes, it becomes clear that an employee has been misclassified as exempt when she should really be an hourly employee. Employers that want to fix the situation can do so and avoid a lawsuit by offering the employee double her lost overtime pay, plus interest going back either two or three years depending on how the mistake happened.

Workers required to attend ‘voluntary’ training? Be prepared to pay nonexempt employees

10/18/2011

Do you require or strongly rec­ommend that employees attend training sessions outside their regularly scheduled shifts? If training participants are hourly employees, chances are you will have to pay them for their time. Simply calling the training voluntary isn’t good enough …

Employee said he would do work free? You must still comply with the FLSA

10/12/2011
The Fair Labor Standards Act has been around for many decades, but some em­­ployers still think they can circumvent the inconvenient truth that they must pay employees for their labor. If some of your managers share this mis­­conception, the following case may make them change their minds.

Outback’s tip policy: No rules, just wrong

10/12/2011
Outback Steakhouse has agreed to pay $1.25 million to Minnesota em­­ployees to remedy what servers at the restaurant chain said was an illegal tip-pooling procedure under state law.

FLSA administrative exemption doesn’t require employee to meet all examples in regulation

10/11/2011
Here’s some good news for employers that classify workers as exempt under the FLSA’s administration exemption: Contrary to what some attorneys have been attempting to argue, employees don’t have to perform all the functions listed in the DOL regulations, just one.

DOL to tighten child labor rules for farm workers

10/05/2011
Last month the DOL proposed changes to child labor regulations for agricultural workers. The proposal would bar employees under age 18 from working in certain jobs, including grain elevators, silos, feed lots and stockyards.

Can bonuses affect overtime calculations?

10/04/2011
Q. We wish to offer a variety of incentive bonuses to hourly workers in an attempt to increase business and productivity. Will these bonuses affect the employees’ “regular rate” under the Fair Labor Standards Act FLSA for purposes of calculating overtime?

Beware the tipping point: Setting up tip pool often requires expert legal advice

10/04/2011
Restaurants that use tip pools and rely on the tip credit to justify paying their employees $2.13 per hour rather than the minimum wage of $7.25 per hour often grapple with which employees can be included in the pool. It’s not always clear.