Whether a six-figure supervisor is exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act overtime rules is probably not something that’s kept you up at night — unless you pay your employees a lot of money without paying them a salary (e.g., day rates). Or you’re just an FLSA nerd like me.…
Last week, I read this press release from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division announcing a six-figure recovery from an employer that “illegally placed a cap on overtime at 16 hours per pay period and paid any overtime beyond 16 hours at straight time rates, a violation…
Yes, even lawyers can misclassify non-exempt employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act. What happened? According to this U.S. Department of Labor press release, a Detroit law firm paid its administrative and support staff workers a salary for all hours worked but failed to pay at least 36 workers the…
Always wait at least one hour before swimming after a large meal. That big brown shark in the swimming pool isn’t always a Baby Ruth. Hold the cue stick properly. Chalk up before each shot. These are solid (and mildly off-putting) pool tips. But let’s talk about tip pools instead.…
Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division issued its second Field Assistance Bulletin of the year. This one is all about protecting workers from retaliation. Retaliation occurs when an employer takes adverse action against an employee because they engaged in a protected activity. The Bulletin provides…
What I’m about to share with you today will never become a Hollywood blockbuster. Actually, it’s so dull that I would sell it over the counter as a holistic sleep aid if I could bottle it. Ambien’s got nothing on wage-and-hour minutiae. Early last year, after President Biden won the…
For those of you with businesses in Hawaii, most of Arizona, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and American Samoa, you can skip today’s post, and I’ll see you tomorrow. As for the rest of you, let’s talk about how to pay graveyard shift employees who…
Perhaps you didn’t study this for your SHRM-CP Certification – or even the bar exam. So I’m here to confirm that federal judges frown on employers threatening the families of employees cooperating in a Wage and Hour Division investigation or otherwise exercising their rights under the Fair Labor Standards Act.…
Last night on the U.S. Department of Labor’s website, I spent some time checking out some of the latest news releases from the Wage and Hour Division. Oh, hold on one second. I need to take this call. “Yes?” “Eric, it’s ‘1996 Eric.'” “Who?” “It’s you, err, me, from like…
In case you missed President Biden’s State of the Union Address last night, I’ve got you covered with everything HR compliance that came up. Pay equity and higher minimum wage. When President Biden took office in January 2021, part of his initial plan was to raise the federal minimum wage…