Articles Posted in Minimum Wage

#SOTU and the #Workplace: A full debriefing of last night’s Presidential address

January 21, 2015 | by Eric B. Meyer

I had every intention of watching the President address the Nation last night. I really did.

But, then I got sucked into the Director’s Cut of The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan’s Island, the one where the Washington Generals show up first and replace all the confetti with lice. Then poor Lovie Howell takes some shrapnel and, frankly, I didn’t realize that Thurston could order a hit squad so quickly to a remote Island.

By the time I remembered the SOTU, the Harlem Globetrotters were busting out a ladder — sorry, Krusty — and que sera.

Fortunately for me, and, by extension, you, the White House printed a copy of the SOTU, which I could ~~cut and paste~~ expertly analyze for you after the jump…

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Minimum wage bump coming for employees of many Philly contractors

May 12, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

Last week, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter signed this Executive Order, which will require that many city contractors provide a minimum wage of $12/hour beginning January 1, 2015. (Although, the Order will also apply to bids and proposals issued May 20, 2014).

The Executive Order also requires that contractors meet that same minimum wage standard for their first-tier subcontractors.

For more on which employers/employee qualify, read the Executive Order.

3 minor leaguers claim Major League Baseball violated the Fair Labor Standards Act

February 14, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

When you think of minor league baseball, you may draw on movies like Bull Durham or The Rookie; long bus trips from stadium to stadium where teams play in front of small crowds for small pay.

Well, apparently, the pay may be small enough to trigger a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act

As pitchers and catchers being to report for Spring Training, Craig Calcaterra at NBC Sports HardBall Talk reports here that three minor league baseball players have initiated a putative class action in federal court against Major League Baseball, among others. In the Complaint (copy here), the plaintiffs allege violations of the FLSA stemming from the failure to pay minimum wage and overtime for working more than 40 hours per week.

Your President/CEO may have to pay your company’s wage and hour debts herself

December 13, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

Well, that certainly sucks. Even worse than the time I found out that Santa Claus MacGyver wasn’t a real person.

(My psychiatrist says that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. I’m not so sure…)

But seriously, I thought that the purpose of a limited liability company was to insulate members from the debts of the company.

After the jump, see how that rule doesn’t necessarily apply when an LLC fails to pay minimum wage or overtime…

Welcome to the Employment Law Blog Carnival: Hollywood Villains Edition

November 20, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

Welcome everyone to the Employment Law Blog Carnival. What you’ll find after the jump is the best, recent posts from around the employment-law blogosphere all organized around a common theme.

So, yeah, we need a theme.

[Lousy blog rules]

Two years ago, we spun some tunes with the “Employment Law Blog Carnival: Jukebox Edition.” That featured such hits like “If You Love HIPAA, Let Me See You Twerk It” and a Sex Pistols B-side hidden track about social media policies.

Last year, I went with the “Employment Law Blog Carnival: Hollywood Casting Call Edition.” To the casual internet user, my writing in that post may have seemed, oh, what’s the word, “deranged”? Here is an actual quote:

Stuart Rudner blogs “When trust has been destroyed: Just cause for dismissal.” The Canadian adaptation, “Haste Makes Waste,” is set for release next year and stars Dustin Diamond as Wayne Gretzky. No, not that Wayne Gretzky. Just some guy who plays a total screw-up and happens to have the same name as the “Great One,” which, in turn, helps him to keep his job.

But, to you, my fans, you recognize it as something more than the product of some bad salmon I ingested just before a marathon two-finger typing session. It’s gold!

So, mainly since my brain is fried from churning out this drivel — free drivel — every weekday, let’s stick with the Hollywood theme. How about the Employment Law Blog Carnival: Hollywood Villains Edition? Hannibal Lechter would approve, I’m sure. You may even see him after the jump.

So grab some liver, fava beans and nice chianti and click through to read the carnival offerings…

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NJ votes to increase minimum wage to $8.25

November 7, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

On Election Day, NJ voters approved a constitutional amendment increasing the state’s minimum wage by $1, from $7.25 to $8.25. The new wage rate will take effect on January 1, and future increases will be tied to inflation.

Governor Chris Christie, who was re-elected on Tuesday had opposed the increase, claiming that the state’s economy would have a difficult time withstanding the increase.

New Jersey becomes the 20th state to establish a minimum wage higher than the federal minimum of $7.25.

Does the FLSA require paying employees who wait in security lines at work?

October 18, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

True story.

Back in 1999, when I was in law school in Washington DC, I went with my buddy to see The Matrix at the Uptown Theater in Cleveland Park. At the time, the Uptown was one of the best places around to watch an action flick. And what better movie to see than The Matrix — one of my top 10 movies of all time.

WTH does this have to do with the Fair Labor Standards Act?

Uh, duh…

[Humor me and click through, would ya?]

4 pending bills that could change the NJ employment landscape

June 13, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

One of my favorite reads on NJ employment law is Ogletree Deakins’s New Jersey eAuthority. The June 2012 issue highlights several pieces of legislation now pending in NJ of which employers should take note. I’ve summarized four of them after the jump…

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6 keys to keeping unpaid internships from becoming a hot wage & hour mess

March 28, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

Yesterday, I presented “Reducing the Risk of Wage and Hour Litigation” with my partner, Jennifer Platzkere Snyder, at ALM’s In-House Counsel Labor and Employment Law Forum. We talked best practices, common mistakes, and Supreme Court.

We also dipped into some hot issues, the hottest of which, by far, based on audience engagement, was unpaid internships. Oh boy, is it easy for companies to potentially screw up unpaid internships. Just ask Charlie Rose and Harper’s Bazaar.

Want to get ’em right without running afoul of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Six steps to success follow after the jump…

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