FLSA

Jury awards $250,000 to former strippers in Houston

05/04/2015

Two former exotic dancers will split a $250,000 award after a jury sided with them in their suit against Houston nightclub Tiffany’s Cabaret. The jury found the club illegally made the women share their tips and wrongly forced them to pay to dance there.

Lawsuit says Handy cleans up at its contractors’ expense

04/21/2015

A lawsuit filed in California alleges that Handy, the sharing economy’s version of a cleaning service, is playing dirty with its workers. Like its brethren—Uber, Taskrabbits and others—the company uses independent contractors instead of employees.

Court spots the problem: Troubleshooting complex machinery isn’t exempt work

04/13/2015

With technological advances, just about every job involves using computers or computerized machinery. That doesn’t mean an employee whose job it is to repair such equipment is an exempt computer professional. Fixing things like printers and copiers—even the most technologically advanced ones—is hourly work, making the employee eligible for overtime.

Downsizing oil companies could see gusher of litigation

04/13/2015

Falling oil prices have forced many energy companies to cut their workforces until the market recovers. Former employees on the receiving ends of those cuts could try to recover lost income through lawsuits.

‘Fissured workplace’ is focus of DOL misclassification initiative

04/01/2015

Business models that lean heavily on independent contractors are tempting a DOL investigation. Might you be in a targeted industry?

DOL cites Silicon Valley firm that paid $1.21 per hour

03/23/2015

San Jose-based Electronics for Imaging (EFI) will have to pay $40,156 to eight workers it brought in from India. A U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation found the company required workers to put in as many as 122 hours per week and paid as little as the equivalent of $1.21 per hour in Indian rupees.

Supreme Court allows DOL rules reversal

03/13/2015

On March 9, the Supreme Court ruled that the Department of Labor, which regulates the kind of employees who must receive overtime for working more than 40 hours per week, is free to flip-flop on its interpretation of the Fair Labor Standards Act without notice or an opportunity to comment on the proposed change.

Niederland contractors can’t paper over misclassification

03/10/2015

Specialty Painting & Wall Covering and M&S Enterprises, both in Niederland, have paid 22 painters and drywall installers $108,783 in overtime back wages following a U.S. Labor Department Wage and Hour Division investigation.

Still no word from DOL on release of new OT rules for supervisors

03/10/2015

The long-whispered, unofficial goal had been a February 2015 release of these new overtime rules. February came and went, and Labor Department officials are tight-lipped about when the rules will be released and what’s taking so long.

DOL Wage and Hour Division unearths $4.5M in miner pay

03/03/2015

Mining companies extracting gas from the Marcellus Shale formations in Pennsylvania and West Virginia violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by misclassifying employees and improperly paying overtime, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division.