Georgia Revamps Lactation Break Law for Private Employers and Creates a New One for Public Employers
9/22/20
By: Tim Boughey The Georgia state legislature recently weighed in on the issue of lactation breaks by passing “Charlotte’s Law.” Before August 5, 2020, Georgia employers largely followed the federal Fair Labor Standards Act’s lactation break requirements to provide an employee with a reasonable amount of unpaid break time and a space to express milk…
6/4/20
By: Michael Hill As part of an ongoing effort to clarify the laws governing how employers may pay their employees, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) removed some outdated and confusing rules it had introduced in the 1960s and 1970s. The law at issue is known as the “retail-sales exemption” to the Fair Labor Standards…
U.S. Department of Labor Issues COVID-19 Guidance on FLSA and FMLA
3/20/20
By: Catherine Scott As the federal government continues to grapple with questions from employers regarding COVID-19, the federal agencies have begun to roll out new guidance. The latest comes from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), which has issued guidance for employers seeking answers concerning their obligations pursuant to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)…
Securing the Bag: California Supreme Court Rules Exit Searches Compensable
3/2/20
By: Gregory Blueford Shunning the position of the United State Supreme Court’s decision in Busk v. Integrity Staffing Solutions, Inc., the California Supreme Court has ruled that time spent on the employer’s premises waiting for and undergoing company-mandated exit searches of bags and personal technology devices brought to work purely for personal convenience by employees…
New Federal Test Relaxes Standards for Unpaid Internships
5/6/19
By: Zinnia Khan In a recent announcement, the U.S. Department of Labor loosened the Obama-era federal test for determining if an intern should be classified as an employee. That is good news for employers, although there still remain other potential risks for employers including inadvertent misclassification of interns and stricter state laws. The new standard, known…
New Rule, Who Dis? DOL Proposes Changes to Joint Employment Regulations
4/8/19
By: Will Collins On April 1, 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced notice of proposed rulemaking, amending the DOL regulations addressing joint employers under the federal wage and hour law (i.e. the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”)) and providing guidance and clarification long sought by employers. The proposed changes announced last week mark…
Department of Labor Unveils Its Long-Awaited Proposed Overtime Rule
3/11/19
By: Brad Adler On March 7, 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released its long-awaited proposed rule that would revise the white collar overtime exemption regulations. In its proposed rule, the DOL proposed raising the minimum annual salary for exempt status from $23,360 to $35,308 (an increase in the weekly rate from $455 to…
U.S. Supreme Court Holds All Public Employers Are Covered By The ADEA
11/9/18
By: Brent Bean On November 6, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its long-anticipated opinion in Mount Lemmon Fire Dist. v. Guido, 586 U.S. __ (2018), which FMG previously discussed here. At issue was whether the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (“ADEA”) applies to all state and political subdivisions, regardless of the size of their…
10/22/18
By: Brad Adler & Hillary Freesmeier While retail employers have tightened up their wage and hour practices, there are still too many companies in the retail industry, including fast food and fast casual employers, that have failed to take inventory of their compliance with current wage and hour laws. One such example is how some…
Is Wellness Activity Participation Compensable?
9/25/18
By: Joyce Mocek The Department of Labor (DOL) recently issued an opinion letter on whether employees must be compensated under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for the time they spend participating in wellness activities. In this inquiry, the employer advised the DOL that it allowed its employees to participate in wellness programs including “biometric…
9/24/18
By: Brad Adler & Koty Newman The Ninth Circuit’s recent decision in Marsh v. J. Alexander’s, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 26387 (9th Cir. Sep. 18, 2018) is important for employers trying to navigate the FLSA and pay their tipped employees the correct amount. The Ninth Circuit has joined the Eighth Circuit in deciding that the Department…
9/19/18
By: John McAvoy On July 6, 2018, a nonprofit restaurant advocacy group filed suit against the U.S. Department of Labor in Texas Federal Court challenging the rule that governs the compensation of tipped employees; specifically, the DOL’s “80/20 Tip Credit Rule” or “20% Rule” set forth in the 2012 revision to the DOL’s Field Operations Handbook. Restaurant Law Center v. U.S. Dept. of…