Articles Posted in Overtime

Schlangenmädchen Neyenne Circus BelyOn Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 223-204 to pass the Working Families Flexibility Act of 2013, which would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act to permit employers to provide compensatory time off in lieu of monetary compensation for overtime hours worked. Presently, through the Federal Employees Flexible and Compressed Work Schedules Act, only state and federal employees may receive comp time in lieu of OT.

Specifically, the Working Families Flexibility Act authorizes compensatory time off at a rate of no less than one and one half hours for each hour of overtime worked. Under the FLSA, employers must pay OT at a rate of no less than one and one half the employee’s regular rate of pay. Republicans contended the measure would allow parents to spend more time with their children. House Democratic Whip, Steny Hoyer [D-MD] has hyperbolized that the Working Families Flexibility Act “would eliminate the 40-hour workweek as we know it.”

It should come as no shock, then, that House passage was basically along party lines. And, even if it somehow passes the Senate, the President would likely veto the bill.

Reese's!After seeing Fatboy Slim perform in a bubble at the Olympics Closing Ceremony, I had trouble falling asleep last night. 

I tossed. I turned. But, I eventually drifted off into a deep sleep; a wonderful slumber. I dreamt that the Third Circuit Court of Appeals decided two cases under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), and then I blogged about them in a single blog post. Like peanut butter and chocolate, it was the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup of blog posts.

What a sweet, decadent dream. Or was it a dream? Find out after the jump… 

[Hint: no dream, no chocolate, just two FLSA decisions (one of which I’ll blog about tomorrow, because I ramble a bit after the jump, much like I’m droning on now). Maybe this is all just an excuse to play Katy Perry. Yeah, this all makes sense. About as much as having Russell Brand sing “I am the Walrus” from on top of a psychedelic VW bus in front of a worldwide audience of millions. Just jump.]

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Sounds like a bad batch of Pennyroyal Tea. Just another Tuesday here at the ole Handbook.

<div style=”text-align: right;”>The San Francisco Chronicle is reporting here that Courtney Love, Kurt Cobain’s widow, is reuniting the band ** thank you for sparing our ear holes ** being sued by a former assistant seeking, among other things, unpaid overtime. The plaintiff also claims that Love asked her to perform voodoo rituals ** not yet, next paragraph ** unethical duties such as hiring a hacker and forging legal correspondence. The San Francisco Employment Lawyer Blog has more on this case here.

From Hole to holes in a doll pin-cushion, with a hat-tip to @ChaimBook, the Madison St. Clair Record reports here that a Wisconsin woman is suing her former employer for sexual harassment and retaliation. The plaintiff claims that she was forced to look at nude female magazines, calendars and sexually explicit language used by her co-workers and direct supervisor. Fairly standard sexual-harassment fare. What makes this case blogworthy is that, after she complained, the plaintiff allegedly suffered retaliation in the form of two voodoo dolls in her desk, one of which had a black pin stuck into her chest.

ThreeI heard that there was some Supreme Court decision yesterday about healthcare. Want the scoop? Google it.

They zig, I’ll zag with the scoop on some other pending employment-law legislation of which employers should take note…after the jump…

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Thumbnail image for Supreme Court.jpgUnder the Fair Labor Standards Act, a company must pay overtime to non-exempt employees who work over 40 hours in a particular workweek. Non-exempt, huh? That implies that the FLSA also contains various exemptions from overtime pay for employees who meet those requirements. Indeed it does. One of those exemptions is called the “outside sales” exemption. To qualify for the outside sales employee exemption, all of the following tests must be met:

  1. The employee’s primary duty must be making sales (as defined in the FLSA); and
  2. The employee must be customarily and regularly engaged away from the employer’s place or places of business.

The pharmaceutical industry is chock full of sales representatives whose job it is to go to doctors’ offices and convince physicians to place orders with drug makers. However, these sales reps never actually transfer title to the drugs. That is illegal in the drug industry.

So then, the question is, do these sales reps qualify for the FLSA’s outside sales exemption? Well, funny you should ask, because that’s what the Supreme Court decided yesterday (here). Details after the jump…

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