Your employee claims you owe unpaid wages (usually that means overtime), and you’re starting to lose some sleep. You’ve heard how wage and hour claims are on the rise, and how they can add up to significant dollars. First there are the wages themselves. Then there are liquidated damages equal to the amount of the […]
Note to Self: You Can’t Keep Your Employees’ Tips
If you employ “tipped” workers, I have good news and not-so-good news. OK, maybe it’s not really good news, but it’s interesting. The sort of good news is that Congress passed a budget and so the federal government was not shut down. (Yawn– I know). If you’re an employment law nerd like me, you find […]
Surprise! Your Interns Might Really Be Employees…
Many companies hire students as interns. Many employers take for granted that interns do not have to be paid or given benefits. Interns learn while on the job and everyone’s happy, right? Well, hold on a minute. Just last month, the DOL published Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2018-2 (not exactly an attention-grabbing name, I know) in […]
Is it the End for the New White-Collar Exemption Rules?
Back in November a federal judge put the Obama Administration’s overtime rules on hold. I previously posted about that here. But here is the quick recap: The DOL, at President Obama’s instruction, raised the minimum salary level for certain “white-collar” exemptions. Currently, the minimum salary level is $455 per week. The new rules were to […]
Is the DOL Now Going “Soft” on Joint Employers and Worker Classification?
In the past few years, under the Obama Administration we saw the definitions of “joint employment” and “employee” expand. In its Administrative Interpretation 2016-01 issued in January 2016, the DOL took the position that “[t]he concept of joint employment, like employment generally, should be defined expansively under the FLSA and MSPA.” It also differentiated between “horizontal” joint […]