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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August 29, 2024
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Category: FLSA

Fifth Circuit Vacates DOL’s “80/20 Rule” for Paying Tipped Workers

A federal appeals court has thrown out the Biden Administration’s “80/20 Rule” rule governing the payment of tipped employees, finding it contrary to the language of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). In Restaurant Law Center v. U.S. Department of Labor, a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit invalidated the rule on August 23,...
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July 02, 2024
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Category: FLSA

DOL’s Overtime Rule Takes Effect as Federal Court Blocks Enforcement Against Texas

The first phase of the U.S. Labor Department’s recent revisions to its overtime regulations for executive, administrative, and professional employees went into effect July 1, 2024. DOL’s final rule increased the minimum salary level from $684 per week to $844 per week (equivalent to an annual salary of $43,888) on July 1, 2024, and to $1,128 per week (equivalent to an annual...
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June 05, 2024
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Category: DOL

DOL Claims Manufacturer Is Jointly Liable for Child Labor Violations Committed by Its Supplier

The U.S. Department of Labor recently filed a lawsuit alleging that an auto manufacturer is jointly liable for child labor violations committed by one of its suppliers and the supplier’s staffing company. In its complaint, DOL alleges that the auto manufacturer is so interrelated with its supplier that it is an integrated employer for liability purposes under the Fair Labor Standards Act...
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