Insights

October 15, 2025
|
Category: Wage and Hour

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...
Read More
October 14, 2025
|
Category: Agency Enforcement

EEOC Settles Age Discrimination Lawsuit With Enterprise Leasing For $1.8 Million

Enterprise Leasing Company of Florida will pay $1.8 million to settle an age discrimination lawsuit, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced September 25. Enterprise Leasing Company operates National, Enterprise, and Alamo car rental services in Florida. The settlement ends a federal suit — EEOC v. Enterprise Leasing Company of Florida — charging that the rental car company since at least 2019...
Read More
October 13, 2025
|
Category: Wage and Hour

DOL Says Front-Of-House Oyster Shuckers Can Participate In Tip Pool

A new Labor Department opinion letter confirms that restaurants may include front-of-house oyster shuckers in traditional tip pools with servers. The opinion letter concludes that front-of-house oyster shuckers, who interact with customers but don’t directly receive tips, may be included in a traditional tip pool with servers for whom the employer takes a tip credit. The Fair Labor Standards Act...
Read More
October 10, 2025
|
Category: Agency Enforcement

E-Verify Re-Opens During Government Shutdown

E-Verify has resumed operations despite the government shutdown. Its temporary outage prevented employers from creating new cases and addressing tentative nonconfirmations (TNCs), but now that the system is back up, employers must promptly fulfill their E-Verify obligations. E-Verify employers have until October 14 to create new cases for employees hired during the outage. When the system requests an explanation for...
Read More
October 09, 2025
|
Category: Agency Enforcement

Third Circuit Limits DOL’s Power To Impose Penalties Under H-2A Program

DOL must pursue civil penalties and back wages for alleged violations of its H-2A visa regulations in federal court instead of unilaterally imposing these payments on an employer, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled in Sun Valley Orchards v. DOL. DOL alleged that a New Jersey employer violated the H-2A visa program by coercing employees to end...
Read More
October 07, 2025
|
Category: Wage and Hour

DOL Issues Guidance on Joint Employment

A new DOL opinion letter concludes that a restaurant and a members’ club located inside the same hotel were joint employers under the Fair Labor Standards Act. DOL found that the following facts suggested joint employment: Facilities appearing operationally integrated, including physical proximity, common spaces, and common services; Shared ownership; Management teams that periodically supervised work for the other entity;...
Read More
October 06, 2025
|
Category: Agency Enforcement

DHS Proposes H-1B Rule That Favors Higher-Paid Workers In Lottery

The Department of Homeland Security proposed a rule September 24 that would replace the current random H-1B visa lottery with a weighted selection system that favors beneficiaries in higher-paying jobs. Under the proposed rule, when registering for the H-1B lottery, employers would need to provide the offered wage, the corresponding wage level, the job’s SOC code, and the work location....
Read More
October 02, 2025
|
Category: Agency Enforcement

E-Verify Suspended During Shutdown — What Employers Need To Know

As of October 1, the E-Verify system is temporarily unavailable because of the government shutdown. This means that for the duration of the shutdown employers will be unable to access their accounts or perform any E-Verify-related actions, including case creation, user management, or mismatch resolution. The Department of Homeland Security has suspended the three-day rule for creating E-Verify cases, but Form...
Read More
October 01, 2025
|
Category: Affirmative Action and DEI

CWC Urges OFCCP To Revisit Administrative Enforcement Regime

The Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC), our affiliated nonprofit membership association, has submitted two comment letters to the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. CWC’s comments respond to OFCCP’s proposals to (1) rescind its regulations related to Executive Order 11246 and (2) transfer any remaining regulations needed to enforce the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA) to 41 C.F.R. Part 60-300. CWC’s...
Read More
October 01, 2025
|
Category: Agency Enforcement

Partial Government Shutdown Closes Most Agencies Responsible For Workplace Regulation

Congress failed to pass annual appropriations or a stopgap measure, resulting in a federal government shutdown effective October 1, 2025. Most workplace enforcement agencies — including the Labor Department’s OFCCP, Wage and Hour Division, and DOL-VETS, along with the EEOC and NLRB — have suspended nearly all operations. Only limited essential functions continue, and agency staff are largely unavailable to...
Read More

Categories

Talk with an EASI Consultant.

Get in Touch

Talk with an EASI Consultant.

Get in Touch