April 16, 2025
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Category: Congress

House Panel Advances Bills To Amend FLSA To Encourage Job-Related Training, Child Care Services

The House Committee on Education and the Workforce has advanced two bills to amend the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). These bills would incentivize employers to offer voluntary job-related training and to provide overtime-eligible employees with child and dependent care benefits. H.R. 2262 would exclude time spent in after-hours training programs from hours worked, even if the training programs are job-related....
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April 08, 2025
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Category: ADA

Employment-Related Lawsuits Filed in Federal Court Increased Again in 2024

The number of employment-related lawsuits filed in federal courts increased for the second consecutive year, according to statistics from the Administrative Office of the United States Courts (AO). They show that 27,499 employment-related federal lawsuits were filed in FY 2024, an increase of more 5% from FY 2023. Employment-related lawsuits filed under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) increased by almost...
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March 24, 2025
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Category: FLSA

Another Challenge to Biden Administration Independent Contractor Rule Dismissed

The Biden-era independent contractor rule has withstood yet another challenge, so it remains in effect, although the Trump Administration may eventually revisit this rule. Littman v. U.S. Department of Labor involves two freelance writers who challenged the Labor Department’s 2024 independent contractor rule. The rule applies a six-part economic reality test that makes it more likely that workers will be...
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February 25, 2025
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Category: Disability, Accommodations, and Leaves

Biden’s Wage and Hour Division Publishes Guidance in Final Days

In the final days of the Biden Administration, DOL’s Wage and Hour Division issued two opinion letters. WHD opinion letters are not binding on the courts, but employers may rely on them. DOL Opinion Letter FMLA 2025-01-A — FMLA interplay with state and local paid leave programs DOL Opinion Letter FMLA 2025-01-A states that an employer cannot require an employee who...
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January 22, 2025
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Category: CP Featured

Supreme Court Rejects Higher Evidentiary Standard for Proving FLSA Exemptions

The U.S. Supreme Court last week made it easier for employers to defend their decisions to apply the FLSA’s overtime and minimum wage exemptions. In E.M.D. Sales, Inc. v. Carrera, it unanimously rejected a lower court’s ruling that applied a tougher standard for employers to prove FLSA exemptions. In the January 15 ruling, the Justices held that an employer must...
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December 11, 2024
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Category: FLSA

Should Expense Reimbursements Be Included When Calculating Overtime? A New Opinion Letter Explains

In the Biden Administration’s first opinion letter interpreting the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Wage and Hour Division has discussed the effect of expense reimbursements on an employee’s regular pay rate for the employee’s overtime premium. An oil and gas industry employer that reimburses its pipeline inspectors $25 per day for the use of their personal mobile phones, cameras, and computers...
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December 05, 2024
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Category: Disability, Accommodations, and Leaves

DOL Proposes Phasing Out Subminimum Wages for People With Disabilities

DOL’s Wage and Hour Division published a proposed rule December 4 that would phase out the Section 14(c) certificate program that allows employers to pay less than the minimum wage to individuals with disabilities. If the proposed rule were adopted in its current form, applications sent on or after the rule’s effective date would be ignored, and existing certificates would...
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November 21, 2024
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Category: DOL

DOL’s Increase to Minimum Salary Threshold for White-Collar Overtime Exemption Blocked Nationwide

A federal court has vacated a Labor Department rule that increased the minimum salary level for the “white-collar” overtime exemption. Therefore, the prior minimum salary threshold of $684 weekly is back in effect. The opinion came November 15 by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in Texas v. U.S. Dep’t of Labor. The Biden Administration’s final...
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October 10, 2024
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Category: ADA

U.S. Supreme Court Set To Hear Four Employment-Related Cases During New Term

The U.S. Supreme Court began its 2024-2025 term this week with several employment law cases on its docket: Stanley v. City of Sanford—This case concerns a disabled retiree’s challenge under the Americans with Disabilities Act of a change in retiree benefits that occurred more than 20 years ago. E.M.D. Sales v. Carrera—This case concerns the Fair Labor Standards Act’s exemption...
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September 18, 2024
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Category: FLSA

Fifth Circuit Rules FLSA Recognizes DOL Power To Set White Collar “Salary Basis” Test

The Department of Labor acted within its authority in requiring employers to pay a minimum salary to employees who are classified as exempt from federal minimum wage and overtime requirements, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled September 11 in Mayfield v. DOL. A unanimous three-judge panel noted that DOL has included a minimum-salary requirement in the...
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