FLSA

Obama wants to expand FLSA overtime rules

03/19/2014

President Obama on March 13 ordered the U.S. Department of Labor to propose rules to “update and modernize America’s overtime pay system, so that millions of our nation’s salaried workers will have the protections of overtime pay.” The process, which will take months, could make overtime pay available to more management employees who are now considered exempt under the FLSA.

No double liability for state, federal classification claims

03/07/2014

Until now, employers covered by the FLSA faced potential double liability under the North Carolina Wage and Hour Act over unpaid overtime for workers misclassified as exempt. A recent decision makes clear that the federal FLSA takes precedence.

Multitasking doesn’t destroy exempt status when managers must do hands-on work

03/07/2014

Salaried retail managers often have to step in and perform nonmanagement tasks. The fact that they do some of the same things that hourly employees do doesn’t mean they aren’t exempt under the FLSA—as long as they are also managing at the same time.

Supreme Court rules on ‘donning & doffing’ in union shops

03/06/2014

The U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous interpretation on Jan. 27 of the meaning of “changing clothes” in the FLSA is significant for unionized employers in industries in which workers must change clothes to begin and end their work shifts.

The price of pay mistakes: $250,000,000 and counting

02/27/2014

A quarter-billion dollars is a lot of money. Yet that’s the amount the DOL collected in unpaid minimum wages and unpaid or underpaid overtime wages for employees during fiscal year 2013. Learn from others’ mistakes:

Sometimes you can require repayment out of last check

02/26/2014

Do you offer a store credit card to your employees? If so, you likely want any balance due repaid if the employee quits or is fired. You may be able to get the employee’s agreement to repay the balance on termination out of his or her vacation or sick account balance.

Make sure handbook includes rules on off-the-clock work, missed break time

02/26/2014

With strong policies, employees (and their lawyers) will find it much harder to mount class-action wage-and-hour lawsuits. That’s because employees have to show that a common policy or practice was responsible for wage-and-hour violations.

Obama: Higher minimum for fed contractors’ employees

02/18/2014

President Obama plans to issue an executive order requiring federal contractors to pay employees at least $10.10 per hour, starting in 2015.

FLSA to cover home health care workers in 2015

02/12/2014

Beginning Jan. 1, 2015, staffing agencies and other third-party employers must pay minimum wages and overtime to home health care workers, including certified nursing assistants, home health aides, personal care aides, caregivers and certain companions.

High Court: CBA can address ‘donning, doffing’

02/07/2014

The U.S. Supreme Court handed employers a major victory on Jan. 27 when it ruled unanimously that workers need not be paid to change into and out of protective gear if a union contract has already specified that the time isn’t compensable.