By Peter M. Panken, Michael S. Kun, Douglas Weiner, and Larissa Lalor-Rosado
Misclassification of employees as exempt from overtime compensation has become a cottage industry for plaintiff’s lawyers and for the United States Department of Labor (“DOL”) in the Obama years. One of the most difficult issues is whether employees meet the so-called administrative exemption to the Wage Hour laws. In Hines v. State Room, the United States Circuit Court in New England offered some clarity and help to beleaguered employers holding that former banquet sales managers were exempt ...
By David Garland and Douglas Weiner
In February 2011, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit gave a resounding victory to employers in the pharmaceutical industry by finding that pharmaceutical sales representatives are covered by the outside sales exemption of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). Christopher v. SmithKline Beecham, No. 10-15257 (9th Cir. Feb. 14, 2011). Plaintiffs, and the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) in an amicus brief, had argued the exemption did not apply because sales reps are prohibited from making the final sale. Prescription ...
by Michael S. Kun, Eric A. Cook, and Jennifer A. Goldman
California Governor Jerry Brown has signed two employment-related bills into law, raising the stakes for employers doing business in California. The two laws, which increase the penalties for employers that wrongly classify employees as independent contractors or engage in "wage theft," both go into effect on January 1, 2012.
As Hurricane Irene is moving up the East Coast and threatening states from North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Massachusetts, employers should refresh themselves on the wage and hour issues arising from the possibility of missed work days in the wake of the storm.
A few brief points that all employers should be mindful of under the FLSA:
- A non-exempt employee generally does not have to be paid for weather-related absences. An employer may allow (or require) non-exempt employees to use vacation or personal leave days for such absences. But, if ...
On October 14, the IRS announced that the Health Care Reform Law's requirement that employers report the cost of health insurance on W-2's along with wages will be delayed by one year. Now, employers must report health insurance cost on the 2012 W-2s, which in most cases will be issued to employees in January 2013.
The announcement explained that “the Treasury Department and the IRS have determined that this relief is necessary to provide employers the time they need to make changes to their payroll systems or procedures in preparation for compliance with the new reporting ...
It is that time of the year when most companies start thinking about handing out year end or Christmas bonuses to their employees. For exempt workers, such payments are not a concern. For non-exempt workers, however, bonus payments raise the prospect of adding to the employee's regular rate, which could result in additional overtime liability. For example, if an employee works overtime in the week he receives a bonus check of $400.00, the Department of Labor may require the bonus to be included in the "regular rate" upon which the time and one half overtime calculation is based (i.e ...
Several of the firm's labor lawyers in our New York office provided the following update on recent changes to New York wage and hour laws.
As we previously reported in our Summer 2009 New York State Employment Law Update, as of October 26, 2009, New York Labor Law Section 195(1) requires employers to notify all newly hired employees of the following: (i) rate of pay, (ii) regular paydays, and (iii) hourly rate and overtime pay rate (for all non-exempt employees). Employees must sign a statement acknowledging receipt of the written notice, and employers must keep the signed statement for ...
In a recent Client Alert prepared by Jeff Landes, the firm summarized several new laws passed by the New York legislature which will affect employers. Among these laws was a very important change to the wage and hour laws, which will affect all companies with employees in New York.
Rate of Pay, Regular Pay Day and Overtime Rate Must Be in Writing and Acknowledged by New Hires
Labor Law Section 195(1) currently requires employers to provide newly hired employees with information regarding their rate of pay and the employer's regular pay days – such notice need not be written. On July 28 ...
A client this week asked us to provide an opinion letter regarding the exempt status of certain supervisors, and some tips on how to avoid lawsuits regarding mis-classification. Although some of the advice was specific to the client's business, much of the advice is applicable to a wide variety of industries. An excerpt from the memo is below.
- Carefully craft job descriptions to emphasize exempt duties over non-exempt duties – require employees to acknowledge their job descriptions in writing.
- List the two or more employees supervised by an exempt manager in the job ...
Blog Editors
Recent Updates
- Minimum Wages Adjusted Across the USA
- DOL Opinion Letters Provide Practical Insight and Guidance – What Employers Need To Know
- Minimum Wages and Exemption Thresholds Adjusted Across the USA
- Demystifying Wage and Hour Audits - One-on-One Video with Courtney McFate
- Minimum Wage Increases Coming Soon Across the Nation – Especially in California