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. […]
Tag: 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 […]
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 […]
OT Exemption Threshold Salary: Take 2
By Bill Wright The news is everywhere: the DOL has issued its new proposal for the salary threshold for executive, administrative, and professional exemptions. Don’t panic – the announcement concerns a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. The DOL still has to take public comments and prepare a final set of regulations. The proposal (this time) is […]
Dear Santa
John Alan Doran Dear Santa, We all got together and put together our wish-list for your visit. We realize it’s been a fascinating year on the Labor & Employment front. And we don’t want to seem greedy (and end up on the naughty list) in light of all the recent developments in Labor & Employment […]