When we’re assisting clients respond to Department of Labor investigations, one question that regularly comes up is “what can I say to my employees about all this?” We may have a range of suggestions depending on the circumstances, but we’ll never advise you to hire a fake priest to dupe employees into confessing workplace sins.
Read MoreThere is a new DOL Bulletin setting forth the requirements to accommodate employees who wish to pump breast milk while working. It gives remote workers the same rights as those who have returned to or never left the workplace.
Read MoreThe federal backstop to enforcement of child labor laws is still at work even as some states let down their guard.
Read MoreAn entity called the Foundation for Government Accountability is lobbying to maneuver various measures to water down state regulation of child labor laws. This is morally wrong. Reasonable child labor rules and enforcement are not inconsistent with a belief in limited government or pro-business policies.
Read MoreHere are some observations on forty years of practicing wage & hour law.
Read MoreDOL recently announced that US Marshals arrested a New York restaurateur for failure to respond to a subpoena as part of a Fair Labor Standards Act investigation. This is the second such arrest in the last few months. As I said in my blog about the first arrest - things simply go better when employers take DOL investigations seriously.
Read MoreJust out — a White House memorandum directing all federal contracting agencies to hire labor advisors to help coordinate with DOL and comply with the laws regarding labor and employment which pertain to federal procurements. This includes especially the Service Contract Act and the Davis-Bacon Act, but also many other labor requirements and Executive Orders.
Read MoreThe Wall Street Journal got the minimum wage wrong. But the good news is they issued an errata shortly thereafter correcting the mistake.
Read MoreDoughnut chain agrees to future compliance at company’s 242 US locations for failure to include bonus income in calculating regular rate of pay due for overtime
Read MoreWith the new year comes new minimum wage rates applicable to employees who work on or in connection with many federal contracts. Consider this a courteous nudge to make sure you’re complying with the correct minimum wage requirements.
Read MoreThe Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) authorizes the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to investigate, gather data, interview employees, enter and inspect work sites and review records as well as to gather data about hours worked and compensation paid. It can be quite intrusive; however, cooperation is certainly preferable to a perp walk. Read on to learn more about how an employer found himself arrested by the U.S. Marshal.
Read MoreWorkers don’t get to pick whether they should be classified as independent contractors or as employees. The burden is on the employer to do the classification analysis. And that burden will just get tighter when the Biden Administration proposed regulations get finalized.
Read MoreA New Hampshire Federal Court orders a North Conway restaurant to pay $148,128 in back wages and liquidated damages to 31 employees for violating the FLSA.
Read MoreFreddy’s back! DOL is tinkering with the independent contractor rules yet again. And one Philadelphia medical staffing company had to cough up $9.3M to cover the back wages, liquidated damages, and civil money penalties for going to far.
Read MoreNo Davis-Bacon Act price adjustment claims are allowed if the contract has a clause that requires wage and fringe benefit escalations be priced into the option year quotes.
Read MoreDOL publishes the Android version of their Timekeeping application.
Read MoreA recent Maryland case demonstrates how state law can supplant federal law with respect to wage and hour obligations. Federal contractors must be vigilant to avoid getting caught in this sometimes quite tangled web.
Read MoreLawyers and law firms too get picked on by DOL for FLSA violations — usually misclassification, working time and overtime problems. Just because you have a law degree doesn’t mean you understand the law.
Read MoreThe Supreme Court this week agreed to hear an appeal to resolve differing interpretations of the Department of Labor’s “salary basis” regulations. Both sides are adamant that the “plain text” of one provision or the “plain terms” of another compel their favored result—that a highly compensated employee should, or should not, be entitled to overtime pay.
Read MoreThe Department of Labor continues to seek liquidated damages in pre-litigation settlements for violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
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