DOL Formally Restores Pre-2024 Overtime Rules Following Court Vacatur

The Department of Labor has issued a technical amendment removing the 2024 revisions to the white-collar overtime regulations. It restores the salary thresholds adopted in 2019, including the weekly $684 salary level for exemption as an executive, administrative, or professional employee and the annual $107,432 threshold for highly compensated employees. The amendment implements federal court decisions vacating the Biden-era rule and follows DOL’s recent dismissal of pending appeals challenging those rulings.   The technical amendment does not change current compliance obligations but simply aligns the regulatory text with court rulings that...

DOL Proposes Clearer, More Balanced Joint Employer Test

A proposed joint employer rule from the U.S. Department of Labor would clarify the standard for joint employer liability under federal wage and hour laws. The proposal would apply to the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act.   The proposal resembles an interpretation that DOL adopted in 2020 but rescinded during the Biden Administration.   Under the proposed rule’s four-factor test, there is a substantial likelihood of joint...

CWC’s Comments Support Revisions To DOL’s Worker Classification Rule

The Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC), our affiliated nonprofit membership association, has submitted comments supporting DOL’s proposed changes to the independent contractor status rule. The Wage and Hour Division’s proposed interpretive worker classification revisions relate to the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act. DOL has not enforced...

DOL Proposes Rollback of Biden-Era Worker Classification Rule

DOL’s Wage and Hour Division has issued a proposed rule for assessing whether a worker is an employee or independent contractor under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act. If finalized, the rule would largely revive a framework from the first Trump administration and rescind the Biden...

DOL Opinion Letter Underscores Compliance Risks When Using Incentive-Based Bonus Plans

A recent Wage and Hour opinion letter reaffirms that employers must include performance-based bonuses awarded under predetermined criteria in the regular rate when calculating overtime. DOL concluded that bonus payments were nondiscretionary and therefore part of the regular rate because the employer had “abandoned” its discretion by automatically awarding the bonus to drivers who met objective performance and safety standards. The...

House Rejects Training Time Bill, Signaling Slim Odds For FLSA Reforms

The House of Representatives rejected a bill that would have allowed employers to offer hourly employees specified voluntary training programs on a non-compensable basis. Although specific types of training time may be non-compensable, the Labor Department applies those exceptions narrowly. The House voted down H.R. 2262, a proposal to amend the Fair Labor Standards Act, even though supporters argued that the...

House Committee To Consider Three Wage And Hour Reforms

The House Committee on Education and the Workforce on November 20 will debate three wage and hour bills that seek to make important changes to federal wage and hour law: H.R. 2870, the Working Families Flexibility Act, would legalize employer-employee agreements for compensatory time off, subject to strict safeguards; H.R. 2312, the Tipped Employee Protection Act, would broaden the definition...

DOL Says Emergency Pay Premiums Must Be Included In The Regular Rate When Calculating Overtime Pay

An employer must include premium emergency pay in the regular pay rate when calculating an employee’s overtime pay, according to a September 30 opinion letter from DOL’s Wage and Hour Division. The letter responds to a firefighter asking whether “emergency pay” —premium pay for working during a disaster or declared emergency — must be included in the regular rate. The Fair...