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FLSA

What to do? Breastfeeding breaks have turned into major workplace interruptions

10/18/2012

Q. As required, we provide milk-expression breaks. However, a new mother on our staff is having her mother, who cares for the newborn, bring in the baby twice a day to nurse. It would be OK if she just nursed and then sent grandma and baby home. But these breaks are taking 30 minutes or more as co-workers admire and play with the baby. Can we just tell her to express and refrigerate the milk?

8th Circuit relaxes meal break pay requirements

10/12/2012

The DOL says meal times are paid time unless employees are completely relieved of their duties during breaks. The 8th Circuit says the correct rule is that employers can require employees to be ready to work during meal times without affecting its unpaid status. This is known as the “predomi­nantly for the benefit of the employer” standard.

Assigning ‘too much’ work? Beware lawsuit for encouraging unpaid labor

10/10/2012
You may be tempting fate—and an FLSA class-action lawsuit—if your managers are demanding so much productivity from employees that they can’t reasonably get everything done in the time you allow. The problem: Nonexempt employees may feel compelled to work off-the-clock.

Ohio sushi chefs to slice up at least $100K in back pay

10/09/2012
Sushi Rock restaurants failed to ensure tipped employees made at least minimum wage, according to the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division. Now the chain must pay at least $100,000 in back pay, to be split among 54 employees.

Timekeeping records: Know the rules for exempt & nonexempt staff

10/08/2012
Employers with casual timekeeping systems are much more likely to face lawsuits over unpaid wages than organizations with strict record-keeping rules. Some simple procedural guidance can help keep you out of court. Here’s how the record-keeping requirements for exempt employees differ from those for nonexempt workers.

Arlington firm owes $53K in overtime wages

10/05/2012
Arlington-based Espitia Cleaning Inc. agreed to pay $53,095 in back wages to 130 current and former janitors following a U.S. Department of Labor investigation.

FLSA violations cost Houston restaurant $126,000

10/05/2012
Houston’s Ocean Palace Restaurant settled a “palace revolt” of sorts by paying the princely sum of $125,763 in back wages to 61 current and former kitchen and wait staff, cashiers, hostesses, runners, cart pushers, busboys and dishwashers.

Reality–not labels–determines worker status

10/05/2012
Under the FLSA, it’s not the job title or even some understanding between the employer and worker that matters, but business reality. If an employer controls how the job is done, chances are the worker is an employee covered by the FLSA and not an independent contractor.

Health care firm faces possible FLSA class action

10/02/2012
A lawsuit against home health care and hospice provider Amedisys seeks national class action status and challenges the way the company pays its visiting nurses and home health care aides. The company operates in 41 states, including North Carolina.

No class action in lawsuit against trucking company

10/02/2012
Chalk up a win for employers that fear huge class-action lawsuits. A North Carolina judge has decertified a class action against CEVA Freight, a freight hauler. The suit had alleged the company was underpaying some 2,000 drivers across the nation.