Wage and HourBlog Posts
DOL Adopts Portions of Tipped Regulations Final Rule, Proposes Further Delay of Other PortionsWhile deciding to make effective some portions of the Tipped Regulations Final Rule published in the final weeks of the former administration, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has proposed further delay and consideration of the most controversial provisions of the Rule, including the elimination of the “80/20 Rule” that purports to limit the percentage...… Continue ReadingMarch 25, 2021 |
A Few Out-of-State Telephone Calls Per Week May Be Sufficient to Establish FLSA Coverage, 11th Circuit HoldsAn administrative assistant, who regularly made three to five telephone calls out of state per week to her employer’s clients and vendors, may have sufficiently engaged in interstate commerce to establish “individual coverage” under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit concluded. St. Elien v. All County...… Continue ReadingMarch 23, 2021 |
Wisconsin Wage and Hour Law: Rounding Employee TimeWage and hour claims, particularly those asserting class or collective violations, comprise a significant percentage of employment law claims across the country, and Wisconsin is no exception. Improper rounding and other timecard policies frequently are the culprit in such claims against employers. Wage and hour lawsuits, whether individual or class/collective action in nature, typically are...… Continue ReadingMarch 18, 2021 |
Biden DOL Proposes Withdrawal of Former Administration’s Joint Employer and Independent Contractor Final RulesOn March 11, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued Notices of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRMs) to withdraw the Joint Employer and Independent Contractor Final Rules published during the previous administration. The Joint Employer Final Rule The Joint Employer Final Rule went into effect in January 2020 and addressed the standard for determining whether an...… Continue ReadingMarch 12, 2021 |
Full Fifth Circuit to Hear FLSA “Day Rate” Case, Vacating Panel OpinionIn April 2020, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that paying an employee a set amount for each day he works (i.e. on a “day rate” basis) does not satisfy the “salary basis” component required to qualify as overtime-exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), regardless...… Continue ReadingMarch 11, 2021 |
As Expected, DOL Delays Independent Contractor Final RuleOn March 2, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) formally delayed the effective date of the Independent Contractor Final Rule, from March 8, 2021 to May 7, 2021. The Final Rule, published during the last two weeks of the prior administration, provides that “an individual is an independent contractor, as distinguished from an ‘employee’...… Continue ReadingMarch 3, 2021 |
DOL Delays Tip Regulations Final Rule, Independent Contractor Final Rule Likely NextAs expected, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has formally delayed the effective date of the Tip Regulations Final Rule, from March 1, 2021 to April 30, 2021. The Tip Regulations Final Rule, issued in late December 2020, implemented a 2018 amendment to the FLSA that permits tipped employees, such as restaurant servers, to pool...… Continue ReadingFebruary 25, 2021 |
DOL Withdraws Opinion Letters Regarding Sleeper Berth Time, Independent Contractor StatusContinuing its early pattern of reversing positions adopted during the former administration, on February 19, 2021 the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) withdrew two more Opinion Letters. The first, Opinion Letter FLSA2019-6, addressed whether service providers for a virtual market company were properly classified as independent contractors or...… Continue ReadingFebruary 22, 2021 |
The Proposed Federal Covid-19 Relief Bill Includes a $15 Minimum Wage Hike and Elimination of the Tip Credit. Will Those Provisions Survive?Making good on President Biden’s campaign promise, the House of Representatives has included in its $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief bill, known as the “American Rescue Plan Act of 2021,” revisions to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) that would increase the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2025. The current federal minimum wage...… Continue ReadingFebruary 22, 2021 |
DOL Seeks to Delay Tip Regulations, Independent Contractor Final RulesOne day after President Biden entered office, the White House issued a memorandum directing all agencies to review, and consider delaying, any rules that had been issued by the former administration but that were not yet effective. Following that directive, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has proposed delaying the effective dates of the recently-issued...… Continue ReadingFebruary 11, 2021 |