By Amy Knapp The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has simplified the overtime exemption for commission-based workers in retail and service industries. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), some employees in retail and service industries can be classified as exempt from overtime if they are paid wholly or in part on a commission basis. […]
Category: DOL
FFCRA Enforcement – DOL Investigating Employers for Denying COVID-19 Sick Leave
By Alyssa Levy On April 23, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor issued a News Release about an Arizona employer who declined to pay sick leave benefits to an employee quarantined on doctor’s orders and who was ultimately made to pay full wages. The employer disputed the legitimacy of the quarantine order issued by a […]
Families First Coronavirus Response Act Documentation and Recordkeeping Requirements
By Heather Vickles Leading up to the effective date of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), one issue that remained unclear was what documentation employers can request from employees seeking leave under the FFCRA. The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) temporary rule issued April 1, 2020, addresses this issue. The new DOL regulations require […]
Temporary Regulations Clarify FFCRA Mandates
By Carissa Davis On April 1, 2020, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced temporary regulations for Expanded Family and Medical Leave (“Expanded FMLA”) and Emergency Paid Sick Leave provided under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”). The situation remains incredibly fluid with new guidance issued daily, but the temporary regulations appear to clarify some […]
Per-Project Payments – Salary or Fee Basis Pay?
By Alyssa L. Levy Certain exemptions from employee rights to overtime premium pay require the employee to be paid on a salary basis or on a fee basis. On January 7, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued opinion letter FLSA2020-2 discussing a specific pay arrangement – where the total compensation is set by […]
Joint Employer Status Muddied Further
By Carissa Davis On January 12, 2020, the Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division (“DOL”) announced its revisions to the federal regulation interpreting joint employer status under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA” or “Act’). The new rule is set to take effect on March 16, 2020. For decades, federal regulations have recognized two […]
No New News on Nondiscretionary Bonuses
By Beth Ann Lennon On January 7, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued a new Opinion Letter on “nondiscretionary” bonuses. When a bonus is offered to employees “to induce them to remain” with the company, the DOL considers the bonus to be “nondiscretionary.” Nondiscretionary bonuses “must be included in the regular rate of […]
DOL Increases Salary Threshold for White Collar Exemptions
The U.S. Department of Labor has adopted a new final rule increasing white collar exemption salary rates, which will take effect on January 1, 2020. Click here to read our client advisory about the new rule. […]
Freeze! Put your hands up and go review your attendance policy ASAP…
By Beth Ann Lennon The Sixth Circuit reminds all employers to carefully review even “no fault” attendance policies for FMLA compliance. Dyer v. Ventra Sandusky, LLC. The employer used a collectively bargained, no-fault, attendance policy that required termination when an employee received eleven or more “points” due to absences. Employees received points whenever they missed […]
DOL Proposes Revamp of the “Regular Rate”
By James Korte The DOL continues to issue proposed rules to “modernize” the FLSA. The latest proposal, if finalized, would clarify and update the requirements for how employers calculate the “regular rate” of pay. The “regular rate” is the hourly rated used to calculate the overtime premium pay for non-exempt employees. The proposal: provides more […]