Effective July 1, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) will pull back on seeking liquidated damages in pre-litigation settlements of wage claims and investigations. The change in policy, announced in Field Assistance Bulletin 2020-2, is significant, as liquidated damages can equal 100% of the back pay deemed to be owing, potentially resulting in “double … Continue Reading
For almost 80 years, it has been the law that an overtime-eligible employee whose hours fluctuate from week to week and who agrees to receive a fixed weekly salary covering all hours of work is entitled to a halftime premium for hours worked in excess of 40 per week—not a “time and a half” premium. … Continue Reading
**Update: The Department has adopted the regulations as of January 22, 2020. You can read more about the final adoption here.** The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (the “Department”) has published proposed regulations that would make significant changes to the state’s wage and hour laws. The proposed provisions, collectively termed the Colorado Overtime & … Continue Reading
On December 6, 2019, a divided Second Circuit panel concluded that settlement proposals in accepted offers of judgment under FRCP 68 are not subject to judicial review and approval. Mei Xing Yu et al. v. Hasaki Restaurant Inc., No. 17-3888 (2d Cir. Dec. 6, 2019). The decision departs from the conventional view that settlements of … Continue Reading
On September 17, 2019, Labor & Employment partner and member of the Proskauer Executive Committee Elise Bloom moderated “The New Workplace” panel at the Benchmark Women in Litigation NYC Forum where Proskauer was a sponsor. The forum boasts panels of women lawyers discussing the top legal issues facing in-house counsel. On the panel with Elise … Continue Reading
On January 1, 2020, the new federal overtime rule takes effect. Other than in states with already-higher minimum salaries for exemption (which include California and, for certain types of employees, New York), employers will be required to pay most executive, administrative, and professional employees at least $684 per week ($35,568 per year). Are you ready for … Continue Reading
Members of the House and Senate introduced companion bills on June 11, 2019 to amend the Fair Labor Standards Act to raise the minimum salary threshold for exempt executive, administrative, and professional (“EAP”) employees to north of $50,000 and to automatically update the threshold every three years. The “Restoring Overtime Pay Act of 2019” (H.R. … Continue Reading
On May 8, 2019, Massachusetts’ highest court held that retail salespersons who are paid entirely on a commission or draw basis, may nevertheless be entitled to additional overtime or pay for work on Sundays. The Supreme Judicial Court considered these questions in Sullivan v. Sleepy’s LLC, SJC-12542. The narrow questions the Court considered were whether … Continue Reading
In an opinion letter issued April 29, 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division concluded that a “virtual marketplace company” (“VMC”) that connects service providers with consumers is not the employer of the service providers. The opinion should be a welcome one not only for VMCs and businesses in the “gig economy,” … Continue Reading
On Friday April 12, 2019, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court confirmed that plaintiffs seeking to bring class actions asserting Massachusetts Wage Act (“Wage Act”) violations must meet the certification standards set by Massachusetts Rule of Civil Procedure 23 (“Rule 23”), and cannot avail themselves of a lower bar to class certification. In Gammella v. P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, … Continue Reading
Even at a gathering of employment lawyers, HR professionals, and compensation veterans, one of the easiest ways to clear the room is to begin a discussion on the regular rate of pay. Few other topics, even within the general subject of wage and hour law, evoke such a universal sense of bewilderment, if not unbridled … Continue Reading
The U.S. Department of Labor’s proposed new overtime rule was published in the Federal Register today. As described in our earlier post, the proposed new rule would: Raise the salary minimum for exemption as an executive, administrative, or professional employee to $679 per week ($35,308 per year). Allow employers to satisfy up to 10% of the … Continue Reading
It’s here. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division unveiled its proposed new overtime rule today. We skipped the 200-plus pages of preamble and jumped right to the proposed regulatory amendments themselves (we’ll digest the prefatory materials in another post). Here’s the deal: The salary minimum for exemption as an executive, administrative, or … Continue Reading
As has been long anticipated, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court recently gave a green light to plaintiffs’ attorneys seeking a fee award under the Commonwealth’s Payment of Wages Act, even where an action ends in settlement. The Wage Act (Mass. General Laws ch. 149 §§ 148, 150) awards costs and fees when an employee “prevails” … Continue Reading
In yet another legal development calling into question a traditional independent contractor relationship in the U.S., the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit determined that off-duty police officers were employees of a private security company for purposes of the Fair Labor Standards Act. In Acosta v. Off Duty Police Services, Inc. (6th Cir. Feb. … Continue Reading
Our friends at Bloomberg Law are reporting that the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has sent a proposed new federal overtime rule to the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA). OIRA is part of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which has the responsibility to coordinate interagency Executive Branch review of … Continue Reading
On December 12, Proskauer partners Allan Bloom, Elise Bloom, and Harris Mufson delivered a webinar focused on how recent developments in the law impact the ground rules and key strategies for settlement in four distinct areas of employment litigation. Wage and Hour. Mr. Bloom explained that, in most jurisdictions, settlements of Fair Labor Standards Act … Continue Reading
As discussed in our earlier post, New York State’s annual increases for overtime exemption and minimum wage go into effect on December 31, 2018. Employers whose exempt “administrative” and “executive” employees are currently paid less than the new salary minimums must either increase those salaries to the new levels or start paying the affected employees … Continue Reading
In this episode of The Proskauer Brief, senior counsel Harris Mufson and partner Allan Bloom discuss recent developments in federal overtime rules. The Trump administration recently released its fall 2018 regulatory agenda, with lots of information relating to the Department of Labor (DOL). The DOL appears to be committed to a more business-friendly regulatory framework … Continue Reading
Since 1966, Section 3(m) of the Fair Labor Standards Act permits an employer to take a tip credit toward its minimum wage obligation for tipped employees equal to the difference between the required cash wage (currently $2.13) and the federal minimum wage (currently $7.25). Employers using the tip credit must be able to show that … Continue Reading
In its Fall 2018 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions, published today, the Trump Administration formally announced its intention to issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in March 2019 “to determine the appropriate salary level for exemption of executive, administrative and professional employees.” See our earlier post for what to expect in the proposed new rule.… Continue Reading
It’s that time of year again! New York State’s annual threshold increases for overtime exemption and minimum wage go into effect on December 31, 2018. On that date: The minimum salary for exemption as an “administrative” or “executive” employee increases from $975 per week ($50,700 annually) to $1,125 per week ($58,500 annually) for New York City … Continue Reading
It doesn’t seem that long ago that employers were busily preparing for the new overtime rule that would have doubled the minimum salary level for the “white collar” exemptions from $23,660 to nearly $48,000. That new rule—finalized in May 2016 and set to take effect on December 1 of that year—was struck down by a … Continue Reading
In two decisions issued on September 19, the Second Circuit relied on the Supreme Court’s instruction in Encino Motorcars, LLC v. Navarro, 138 S. Ct. 1134, 1140 (April 2, 2018) that FLSA exemptions are not to be construed narrowly, but fairly. In Munoz-Gonzalez v. D.C. Limousine Service, Inc., analyzing the taxicab exemption in Section 13(b)(17) of … Continue Reading
Effective July 1, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) will pull back on seeking liquidated damages in pre-litigation settlements of wage claims and investigations. The change in policy, announced in Field Assistance Bulletin 2020-2, is significant, as liquidated damages can equal 100% of the back pay deemed to be owing, potentially resulting in “double … Continue Reading
