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California: Clarification on Defining Exempt Managerial Duties

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December 18, 2019

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In The Safeway Wage and Hour Cases, the California Court of Appeal revisited how to determine whether a manager’s duties qualify as exempt or nonexempt. Generally, the court identified two types of work that each qualify as exempt from overtime.

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Federal DOL Updates: Clarification on the “Joint Employer” Standard, Overtime Calculation in Multi-Week Bonus Periods, and Per-Project Pay for Exempt Salary Threshold

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The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published a final rule concerning the joint employer standard, as well as two Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) opinion letters providing guidance on specific wage and hour inquiries.  Below are key takeaways from each of these updates.

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U.S. DOL Opinion Letters: Delaying FMLA Leave, Clarifying FLSA Exceptions, and Applying HSAs to Garnishments

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September 10, 2019

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The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently released three opinion letters addressing the Fair Labor Standards Act, Family and Medical Leave Act, and the Consumer Credit Protection Act.  These opinion letters are issued by the Wage and Hour Division and interpret how laws can be applied in specific situations posed by the letter’s requester, and serve as helpful guidance for employers.

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NLRB Changes Course on Mandatory Arbitration Agreements

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August 14, 2019

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In 2018, in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, the U.S. Supreme Court stated that employers may require employees to sign arbitration agreements with class action waivers. Recently, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) took the Epic decision even further.

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DOL Issues Opinion Letters on Nondiscretionary Bonuses, Overtime Exemption Standards, and Rounding Time Under the FLSA

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July 1, 2019

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The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently announced new opinion letters from the Department’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) on calculating overtime pay for nondiscretionary bonuses and permissible rounding practices under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).  Opinion letters are responses from the WHD to submitted queries, are primarily informative in nature, and are published by the WHD to clarify or interpret existing regulations.

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Alabama: New Pay Equity Law Prohibits Retaliation Related to Wage History Inquiries; Adds Equal Pay Provisions

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September 1, 2019

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The newly enacted Clarke-Figures Equal Pay Act (CFEPA) is Alabama’s first statewide pay equity law, and goes into effect on September 1, 2019.  The CFEPA takes its cues from the federal Equal Pay Act, but also includes provisions commonly seen in other state-level pay equity laws designed to combat discriminatory pay practices.

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Which Way is the Wind Blowing on Independent Contractors Lately?

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April 29, 2019

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The question always seems to be – which way is the wind blowing on independent contractors lately? The answer depends on who is asking and in what state they work. Most recently, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued an opinion letter indicating that gig economy workers who are part of the virtual marketplace are likely independent contractors, provided they meet the six-factor economic realities test. The DOL stated that a virtual marketplace company (VMC) “is an online and/or smartphone-based referral service that connects service providers to end-market consumers to provide a wide variety of services, such as transportation, delivery, shopping, moving, cleaning, plumbing, painting, and household services.” The role of VMC’s is to help consumers more readily connect with the services they are looking for.

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June Updates

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This Short List addresses the following topics:
  1. U.S. Supreme Court: Title VII Claims to the EEOC are Merely Procedural and Not Jurisdictional to Courts
  2. U.S. Supreme Court: State Wage and Hour Rules Don’t Apply to Workers on the Outer Continental Shelf
  3. DOL Issued Updated Poster for Federal Contractors and Subcontractors
  4. California: July 1st REMINDERS for Employers
  5. Emeryville, CA: July 1st Minimum Wage Increase Paused for Small Independent Restaurants
  6. Colorado: Wage Garnishment Reform on the Horizon
  7. Connecticut: Minimum Wage Increasing to $15 an Hour
  8. Minneapolis, MN: Sick and Safe Time Rule Is Still Up in the Air
  9. Kansas City, MO: Bans Pre-Employment Salary History Inquiries
  10. Nevada: Mandatory Safety Training Expanded to Trade Show and Convention Workers
  11. New Jersey: Required Workplace Postings Receive an Update
  12. Texas: Dallas and San Antonio Paid Sick Leave Set to Go into Effect August 1st

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EEO-1 Component 2 Reporting for 2017 AND 2018 is Due September 30, 2019

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May 1, 2019

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The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently issued reinstatement of EEO-1 expanded data collection requirements and posted notice on its website that EEO-1 filers are required to submit Component 2 data for calendar years 2017 AND 2018 by September 30, 2019. (EEO-1 filers include employers with one hundred or more employees as well as certain contractors with more than fifty employees.) This has been an ongoing issue since the requirement to collect Component 2 data was implemented in 2016, and the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) attempt to block its implementation in 2017. As previously reported, in Nat’l Women’s Law Ctr. v. Office of Mgmt. & Budget, a federal judge in the D.C. Circuit Court stated that the OMB failed to demonstrate good cause for staying the release of the updated EEO-1 report form.

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U.S. DOL Issues New Opinion Letters on Voluntary Delay or Extension of FMLA Leave, Volunteer Working Hours

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March 14, 2019

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On March 14, 2019, the United States Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division (WHD) issued two new opinion letters.  The first letter addresses whether or not employers may extend or delay designating paid leave as FMLA time off.  The second letter addresses whether an employee’s time participating in an optional volunteer program qualifies as hours worked under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).  These opinion letters are responses from the WHD to submitted queries, are primarily informative in nature, and are published by the WHD to clarify or interpret existing regulations.

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