By Matt Hesketh and Lindsay Hesketh A staffing company (Company A) got into hot water with the DOL for failing to pay overtime. Scalia v. Employer Solutions Staffing Group, LLC, No. 18-16493 (March 2, 2020). The employees at issue were placed by a second company (Company B). Company B instructed Company A’s payroll employee to pay […]
Category: FLSA
Security Screenings At Work: When is This Time Compensable?
By Alyssa L. Levy In Aguilar et al. v. Management & Training Corp., 948 F.3d 1270 (10th Cir. 2020), the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the employer of a group of prison detention officers violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), 29 U.S.C. §§ 201–19, by failing to pay the officers to undergo […]
State Law Overtime Calculation Prevails Over Established Federal Method
By Alyssa L. Levy and Amy Knapp In November 2019, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court looked at the conflict between federal and state law concerning the calculation of overtime compensation for non-exempt salaried workers. The Court ruled that although federal law explicitly adopted the fluctuating workweek (FWW) method for employees paid a set amount each week, […]
FLSA Applies to Employers in the Marijuana Industry
By Lindsay H. S. Hesketh A company providing services to the Colorado marijuana industry recently moved to dismiss an employee’s claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The company argued that the court lacked jurisdiction over the claim because marijuana is an unlawful substance under the Controlled Substances Act (“CSA”). The district court rejected the […]
A “Fair Reading” of the FLSA Exempts Paralegals From Overtime Pay
By Alyssa Levy Should highly compensated paralegals (likely more experienced paralegals) receive overtime pay? The new DOL Wage and Hour Administrator, Cheryl Stanton, says paralegals earning at least $100,000 annually and performing certain duties are “exempt” employees. The Administrator’s guidance letter zeroed in on the paralegals’ duties to justify their exempt status as a “fair […]
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 […]
Don’t Mess With the IRS… and Don’t Misclassify Your Employees
By Beth Ann Lennon For those of you who were able to join us for Sherman & Howard’s Construction Law seminar earlier this month, you may remember our warnings about making sure your company is properly classifying and paying its employees. In case you need a reminder on how serious these issues can become, be sure […]
DOL says: Don’t Be Too Generous With Your Employees
By Beth Ann Lennon Thursday the Department of Labor (”DOL”) issued three new opinion letters, two of which warrant a quick note. One provided guidance regarding the Family Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”), and the other addressed the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). Both had the same ultimate takeaway – employer generosity easily backfires. Providing more […]
Escaping Trial on FLSA Overtime Claim as Difficult as an Alcatraz Jailbreak
By Chance Hill On December 6, 2018, a federal district court in Maryland denied Defendants’ motion for summary judgment regarding an overtime claim, among others. Defendants, including a Maryland corporation providing medical care services to the elderly, employed the plaintiff primarily as a driver. The employer uses a Facial Recognition System, which takes a photo […]
Individual Liability for Owners
By Matt Hesketh The District Court of Arizona recently reminded us that the “expansive” definition of “employer” under the FLSA includes “any person acting directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in relation to an employee.” The Court held on summary judgment that a company owner was an employer because he had the […]