IT professionals are some of the more challenging employees to classify under the FLSA. For example, the Computer Professional Exemption is highly technical and not friendly to lay people or juries. The Administrative Exemption also may apply in some cases, however, there is very little legal authority outlining the exact nature of the computer related… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Wage and Hour Policies
Subscribe to Wage and Hour Policies RSS FeedCalifornia Supreme Court Issues Long Awaited Decision on Meal Periods
Posted in California Law, Off the Clock, Wage and Hour PoliciesOn Thursday, April 12, the California Supreme Court issued a long awaited decision in a case involving Brinker International (parent company of Chili’s). The decision is required reading for any company with employees working in California as it settles a number of open questions regarding the timing and requirements for employee break and meal periods. Perhaps… Continue Reading
Supreme Court Urged to Limit Collective Actions Where Claim is Moot
Posted in Collective Actions, Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), Wage and Hour PoliciesOften, an individual wage and hour claim involves minimal liability, and the real threat lies in the class or collective action. Not surprisingly, employers would often prefer to pay the alleged unpaid wages owed to the plaintiff than face the cost and expense of a class action. Once the claim is satisfied, the plaintiff’s claim… Continue Reading
Federal Courts Report Increase in FLSA Cases
Posted in Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), Wage and Hour PoliciesNot surprisingly, the latest statistics from the Federal Judicial Caseload Statistics show another steep increase in the number of Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) cases filed in federal courts across the country. For the most recent reporting year ending March 31, 2011, 7,008 new FLSA cases were filed in federal courts – an increase of… Continue Reading
Unpaid Interns Can Mean Big Lawsuits
Posted in Department of Labor, Minimum Wage, Wage and Hour PoliciesIn some industries, it has long been the norm for young workers to work as unpaid interns while they gain experience and a foothold in the business. These types of unpaid internships, however, are almost always unlawful if the business receives anything of productive value from the intern. Nowhere are these types of internships more… Continue Reading
Arbitration Agreement Implemented After FLSA Litigation Deemed Unenforceable
Posted in Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), Wage and Hour PoliciesA California federal judge ruled on March 8, 2012 that Nordstrom Inc.’s effort to compel arbitration in a putative class action alleging unpaid wages should be rejected. District Judge Jeffrey Miller found that the employer rolled out a “Dispute Resolution Agreement” to employees two months after an earlier class action wage and hour suit had… Continue Reading
Does an Off the Clock Policy Insulate an Employer From a Lawsuit?
Posted in Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), Off the Clock, Uncategorized, Wage and Hour PoliciesAccording to a federal judge in Illinois, the answer is “No.” The judge in Smith v. Family Video Movie Club Inc., N.D. Ill., No. 11-cv-1773 (2/22/12) granted certification of a collective action to a group of workers who contended they were required to work off the clock. The plaintiffs alleged they were discouraged from reporting… Continue Reading
Employer Cannot Reduce FLSA Limitations Period in Employment Contract
Posted in Department of Labor, Wage and Hour PoliciesA federal judge in Michigan ruled this week that a business unit of Quicken Loans could not rely on an employment contract as a defense to a putative collective action under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Chasteen v. Rock Financial et al., 2:07-cv-10558 (E.D. Mich.). In the contract, the employee had agreed to shorten… Continue Reading
Legislator Wants to Force Public Companies to Report Pay for Women and Minorities
Posted in Wage and Hour PoliciesIn the heart of an election year, a democratic Congressman (Gregory Meeks D-NY) has taken an old proposal of Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney and introduced it as a bill in Congress. Specifically, H.R. 3791 would require public companies to disclose their pay scales and designate the number of women and minorities at each level. The… Continue Reading
What You Don’t Know May Be Good For You: The Importance of An Effective Wage and Hour Policy
Posted in Overtime, Wage and Hour PoliciesIn Kellar v. Summit Seating Inc., the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held an employer did not have to pay an employee overtime wages for pre-shift work because it neither knew nor had reason to know of such work. Although the employee clocked in early, according to her time-sheets, this was… Continue Reading
Recent Congressional Hearings Spotlight More Aggressive DOL
Posted in Department of Labor, Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), Wage and Hour PoliciesA few weeks ago, current and past administrators of the Department of Labor (DOL) testified before Congress regarding the agency’s ongoing enforcement efforts. Ex-administrator Tammy McCutchen (2002-2004) had some harsh words for the policy direction taken by the current administration: “The Wage and Hour Division’s approach to enforcement has become increasingly punitive over the last three years… Continue Reading
Are Social Workers “Learned Professionals?”
Posted in Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), Overtime, Wage and Hour Policies, White Collar ExemptionsOne of the many gray areas in wage and hour law is determining whether a job is sufficiently “intellectual” as to warrant application of the professional exemption from overtime. Lawyers, doctors and CPA’s easily meet the exemption, but other jobs, many of which require college degrees and extensive training, have been found lacking. Most recently,… Continue Reading
Unusual Resume Stories Include Wage and Hour Item
Posted in Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), Wage and Hour PoliciesThis week, Career Builder announced its top 15 unusual resume stories, based on a survey of Human Resources professionals at over 2,600 companies. A link to the story is here. Not surprisingly, a wage and hour issue was included in the mix. Specifically, one of the stories that made the top 15 list was an applicant who insisted… Continue Reading