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 prove a worker’s exemption from FLSA requirements by a “preponderance of the evidence”—a lower standard than the “clear and convincing evidence” standard applied by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. The Supreme Court reasoned that the preponderance standard remains the default standard in American civil litigation and therefore is appropriate for the Fair Labor Standards Act and other workplace laws, such as Title VII.
Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC), our affiliated nonprofit membership association, can read more here.