FLSA

Class-action risk: Comply now with PUMP Act

08/16/2023

The PUMP Act gave employees the right to sue their employers in federal court if they were denied milk expression breaks in a private location that’s not a bathroom. Now, just months later, the first PUMP Act lawsuit has been filed, on behalf of all similarly situated employees of the U.S. Postal Service.

Dumping pennies in the driveway leads to even more FLSA charges

06/26/2023

Don’t tick off the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division. That’s the lesson learned the hard way by A OK Walker Autoworks of Peachtree City, Ga.

They didn’t seriously argue that, did they? Religion in the kitchen stirs the DOL to action

06/21/2023

Religion in the workplace is a touchy matter. What if your boss brought in a priest and encouraged everyone to confess their sins? What if you weren’t Catholic? It’s not a hypothetical question. An employee of a California restaurant testified that his employer brought in a person identified as a priest to hear their confessions during work hours.

New overtime rule pushed back to August as Su’s labor secretary nomination stalls

06/15/2023

The wait continues for the Department of Labor to release its much-delayed final overtime rule. A June 14 notice by the federal Office of Management and Budget said the rule won’t be published before August.

DOL wins largest FLSA verdict ever! $22 million for unpaid showers

06/12/2023

The Department of Labor has just won the largest Fair Labor Standards Act verdict in its history. A jury awarded a group of workers $22 million for the time they spend showering after their work shifts.

DOL continues crackdown on fast-food violations of child-labor laws

06/05/2023

The U.S. Department of Labor is turning up the heat on fast-food businesses that expose teenage workers to dangerous conditions and try to thwart investigations of alleged child-labor law violations.

DOL offers PUMP Act compliance resources

05/22/2023

The Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division has released a suite of resources to help employers comply with the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act, commonly called the PUMP Act.

Compliance perspectives for employers in the food manufacturing industry

05/17/2023

The food manufacturing industry performs an essential function—making sure the country’s population has access to safe and plentiful food at all times. Much like mail delivery, neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night should prevent the stocking of grocery shelves.

Avoid surprise OT claims with this simple policy

05/08/2023

The Fair Labor Standards Act imposes stiff penalties on employers that cheat employees out of overtime pay. They must pay double what they should have paid in the first place. But there’s a simple way to avoid that liability: Have a policy that makes it easy for employees to report being underpaid. Then promptly investigate if someone reports not receiving the overtime pay they were expecting.

PUMP Act becomes effective April 28

04/10/2023

The PUMP Act, enacted as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, extends FLSA-protected unpaid lactation breaks to nursing mothers who are exempt employees. The law becomes effective April 28. The Department of Labor has already revised Fact Sheet #73 to account for this change. It’s also created some new resources ahead of the law’s effective date.