Wage and HourBlog Posts
White House Re-Nominates Acting DOL Wage & Hour Administrator to Lead DivisionOn January 23, 2023, President Biden re-nominated Jessica Looman to formally become the next Director of the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the Department of Labor (DOL). Ms. Looman originally was nominated for the position in August 2022 and made it out of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions in late...January 25, 2023 |
2022 State Elections Result in Several Minimum Wage ChangesDuring the November 2022 elections, voters in several locations across the country approved minimum wage increases. Most notably: District of Columbia voters passed the Tip Credit Elimination Act, which, by 2027, will result in the elimination of the tip credit in the District and require employers to pay tipped employees the full minimum wage. Voters...November 18, 2022 |
Pandemic-Related Wage and Hour Claims a Focus of JL’s Latest Class Action Trends ReportSince the COVID-19 pandemic began, thousands of pandemic-related lawsuits, including hundreds of putative class or collective actions, have been filed — and the number continues to grow. A large percentage of those lawsuits involve wage and hour claims, centered around issues including, but not limited to, failure to pay for pre-work COVID-19 screening and testing...November 1, 2022 |
DOL Issues 15-Day Extension of Comment Deadline for Proposed Independent Contractor RuleOn October 13, 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), seeking to revise the standard for determining whether a worker is an employee or “independent contractor” under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The NPRM proposes to withdraw the current regulations, issued during the last days of the...October 25, 2022 |
Supreme Court Considers Whether “Highly Compensated” Employees Paid on a “Day Rate” Basis Are Overtime-Exempt Under FLSAOn October 12, 2022, the Supreme Court held oral argument to address the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Hewitt v. Helix Energy Sols. Group, Inc., 15 F.4th 289 (5th Cir. 2021), cert. granted, No. 21-984 (U.S. May 2, 2022), and a corresponding split among the circuit courts of...October 24, 2022 |
Washington Updates Guidance On 2023 Pay Transparency RequirementsWashington State’s Employment Security Department recently released a draft administrative policy with updated guidance on the modified pay transparency requirements beginning January 1, 2023. This draft policy aims to clarify issues raised by stakeholders in the feedback process for the development of the final administrative policy. The draft policy gives some new insight on several...October 10, 2022 |
Cable Technicians Were Exempt Commissioned Employees, Fifth Circuit ConcludesAlthough the plaintiff cable technicians, who were paid by the completed job and not by the hour, were covered employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), they nonetheless were bona fide commissioned employees and therefore exempt from the overtime requirements of Act, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled. Accordingly, the district court’s...August 29, 2022 |
Farm Animal Enclosure Construction Worker Not Penned In by FLSA’s Agricultural Exemption, 7th Circuit HoldsThe mere fact that the plaintiff was building livestock enclosures on farms did not necessarily preclude his entitlement to overtime pay under the agricultural exemption of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has held. Therefore, the district court improperly dismissed the plaintiff’s complaint. Vanegas v. Signet Builders, Inc., 2022...August 23, 2022 |
Connecticut’s Pandemic “Hero Pay” Program Goes Into EffectPrivate-sector essential employees who worked in Connecticut during the pandemic may receive up to $1,000 in premium pay (i.e., “hero pay”), through a $30 million fund established under the state budget approved by the General Assembly and Governor Ned Lamont. To be eligible, workers must have earned less than $150,000 annually; must have been unable...August 16, 2022 |
White House Nominates Acting DOL Wage & Hour Administrator to Lead DivisionFour months after its controversial nominee, David Weil, withdrew his name from contention as Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the Department of Labor (DOL), the White House has nominated Acting Administrator Jessica Looman to head the post. Prior to joining the DOL as Principal Deputy Administrator of the WHD at the...August 3, 2022 |