Last week the Supreme Court heard – for the second time – oral argument in Encino Motorcars, LLC v. Navarro. At issue is whether “service advisors” at dealerships are covered by what’s known as the “automobile dealer” exemption set forth in Section 213(b)(10)(A) of the FLSA. That exemption excludes from overtime any “salesman, partsman, or...… Continue Reading
Employers in New York currently are permitted to pay tipped workers a direct cash wage that is below the State minimum wage and take a “credit” for some of the tips received by employees to satisfy the difference between the cash wage paid and the full minimum wage. For example, in New York City beginning...… Continue Reading
Concluding that the unstructured time spent by the plaintiffs between arriving at the oil refinery and the beginning of their shifts was not “integral and indispensable” to their duties erecting scaffolds at the refinery, the Fifth Circuit held that this time was not compensable under the FLSA. Bridges v. Empire Scaffold, LLC, 2017 U.S. App....… Continue Reading
The U.S. Department of Labor confirmed on October 30, 2017 that it intends to “undertake new rulemaking with regard to overtime.” While the DOL simultaneously filed an appeal of the district court order holding the prior overtime rule invalid, the DOL stated it intends to request that the Fifth Circuit “hold the appeal in abeyance...… Continue Reading
After effectively “punting” on the issue last year, the U.S. Supreme Court has again granted certiorari to resolve a circuit split regarding whether “service advisors” at automobile dealerships are exempt from receiving overtime under an exemption for “salesmen, partsmen, and mechanics” under the FLSA. Encino Motorcars, LLC v. Navarro, No. 16-1362 (U.S. Sep. 28, 2017). ...… Continue Reading
As anticipated following last week’s decision by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, striking down the Department of Labor’s May 2016 Final Rule regarding the FLSA’s “white collar” overtime exemptions, the DOL has asked the Fifth Circuit to dismiss its appeal of the district court’s preliminary injunction invalidating the Rule last...… Continue Reading
Former cosmetology students are not employees entitled to pay under the FLSA and various state laws, the Seventh Circuit holds, rejecting the Department of Labor’s six-factor test but declining to adopt any bright-line test. Hollins v. Regency Corporation, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 15076 (7th Cir. Aug. 14, 2017). The plaintiff was a student enrolled at...… Continue Reading
In a case of first impression in the Second Circuit, a court in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has held private settlements under the FLSA entered into prior to a lawsuit being filed do not require approval by either the Department of Labor or a court. In Gaughan v....… Continue Reading
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals tentatively has set oral argument for October 2nd on the Obama-era overtime pay rule that has been blocked from government enforcement by a federal district court in Texas since last November. The DOL under the Trump administration already has backed away from the government’s previous position, asserting in its...… Continue Reading
The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that it will reinstate the Department’s long-standing practice of issuing opinion letters to employers and employees regarding application of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The Obama Administration eliminated opinion letters in favor of broader “Administrator Interpretations,” but those were few and far between. “The letters were a division...… Continue Reading
