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House votes to raise federal minimum wage to $15 per hour

07/23/2019
The House of Representatives voted July 18 to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2025, passing legislation that will probably not have even a committee hearing in the Republican-controlled Senate.

DOL: Highly compensated employee explained

07/18/2019
A recent opinion letter interprets the Fair Labor Standards Act’s highly compensated employee exemption. The letter spells out exactly what an employer must show to claim the exemption, which currently only applies to workers earning a salary of at least $100,000 per year who perform nonmanual or office work.

Summer brings new employment laws

07/03/2019
It’s summer and that means long breaks for state and local legislatures. Before going on vacation, however, many of those legislatures pushed through new laws that go into effect during the dog days of summer. Here are a few.

Fresno plumbing company settles in DOL overtime case

07/02/2019
Following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division, M&L Plumbing has agreed to pay $113,351 in back pay. The DOL found that the company owed 39 employees the money for unpaid overtime.

Presidential hopefuls picket with advocates for $15 minimum wage

06/18/2019
The Fight for $15 advocacy group that is pushing to raise the minimum wage nationwide picked up some notable support June 15.

Conversations among co-workers can be enough to certify class-action lawsuit

06/13/2019
When an employee claims she wasn’t paid properly under the Fair Labor Standards Act, she can ask the court to represent all other similarly situated workers in a potentially costly class-action suit. It doesn’t take much more than a few casual conversations with co-workers for a single plaintiff to move a class-action lawsuit forward.

HCE exemption hard for worker to challenge

06/13/2019
Employees who earn at least $100,000 per year to perform office work and at least one duty required under the Fair Labor Standards Act’s administrative, executive or professional classifications may be considered Highly Compensated Employees who are exempt from the law’s overtime requirements. Few workers who challenge an HCE classification win.

When exempt ‘managers’ do all work, expect lawsuits

06/13/2019
When retail managers you classify as exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime provisions end up doing the bulk of the work in the store, you may have a misclassification problem.

$22,000: Cost of failing to provide space to pump milk

06/10/2019
The Affordable Care Act amended the Fair Labor Standards Act to require employers to provide nursing mothers a clean, private place (that is not a restroom) to express milk. Allegiance Behavioral Health Center, located in Plainview, Texas, apparently didn’t understand that.

Beware wage-and-hour lawsuits that might suddenly turn into class actions

06/10/2019
Here’s another reason to make sure you are carefully following the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime rules: Just one disgruntled and allegedly underpaid employee can file a class-action lawsuit and get the court to authorize contacting all other similarly situated workers to join in as plaintiffs.