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FLSA

DOL orders extra helpings of damages against restaurants

02/12/2024
The Depart of Labor is cracking down hard on restaurants that cheat workers out of tips and otherwise fail to pay them properly. On Feb. 7 alone, the DOL announced it had recovered more than $850,000 from eateries in Florida, Hawaii and Oregon.

Federal contractor? Beware DOL probes of wage-and-hour violations

02/05/2024
Department of Labor investigators are going after federal contractors that cheat employees out of pay and leave—and the DOL is winning. The latest example: On Jan. 29, the DOL announced it had recovered nearly $16 million in back wages and restored more than 24,700 paid sick-leave hours for more than 2,800 employees who worked for 62 contractors and subcontractors.

Docking pay for snow-day absences: When is it legal?

02/04/2024
The snow’s coming down pretty good and an exempt employee calls to say she can’t make it in today because her car is stuck. Can you deduct a full day’s pay from her salary for that missed day? What if she’s non-exempt? What if you close work because of bad weather? Here’s guidance—and a handy flowchart—to help you make the call.

Prepping for DOL’s new employee/contractor rule? Call your lawyer first!

01/26/2024
The Department of Labor’s recently released final rule on employee/independent contractor classification is scheduled to take effect March 11. Maybe it will, maybe it won’t. A lawsuit has already been filed to stop the DOL from enforcing the rule, and more litigation could be coming. However, it’s smart to plan now to begin complying with the rule’s six-part economic realities test to determine whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor.

Takeaways from the DOL’s worker status rule

01/22/2024
The Department of Labor released its final rule on workers’ status as employees or independent contractors a couple of weeks ago. The rule, which becomes effective March 11 (pending litigation, of course), restores the DOL’s six-part economic realities test, with an eye toward the modern economy. This rule was never meant to upset the apple cart. But some apples will fall by the wayside. Here are some things to think about now.

DOL offers employee/contractor rule guidance for small employers

01/22/2024
The Department of Labor has posted a suite of resources to help small employers navigate the complexities of complying with the recently issued final rule on employee and independent contractor classification.

Critics—and now a lawsuit—blast DOL’s final employee/contractor rule

01/22/2024
Organizations representing business interests reacted quickly to denounce the Department of Labor’s new final rule on employee and independent contractor classification, even as the first lawsuit challenging the rule was filed.

Child-labor violations cost $3.8 million, plus lost sales of compromised ‘hot goods’

01/17/2024
One of the U.S. Department of Labor’s enforcement priorities is eliminating the illegal use of child labor. In 2023, the DOL stepped up enforcement, levying hefty fines.

Effective March 11, new ‘independent contractor’ rule favors classifying workers as employees

01/10/2024
The Department of Labor has issued a new final rule that will make it harder for employers to classify workers as independent contractors, not employees. The rule, Employee or Independent Contractor Classification Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, will take effect March 11. That’s when employers must begin applying what the DOL calls an “economic realities test” to determine if someone is truly a contractor or if he or she should be classified as an employee.

A neat trick, if you can do it: Countersuing employees who bring an FLSA lawsuit to make them foot the bill

01/08/2024
This is the first case we’ve encountered where an employer sued employees for money related to its own violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act.