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Wages & Hours

Comply with the law when requiring employees to work overtime

02/18/2020
In general, employers have the right to require employees to work overtime, as long as they are properly paid for the additional hours. However, that right is not unlimited.

Long Island restaurants must serve up $365k in back pay

02/18/2020
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division has ordered the owners of three Long Island restaurants to pay 79 employees $365,000 in back pay and liquidated damages.

Labor Department issues two new wage-and-hour opinion letters

02/07/2020
In January, the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division issued two opinion letters addressing wage-and-hour issues under the Fair Labor Standards Act. One involves discretionary bonuses while the second addresses whether some extra payments for exempt workers may affect their exemptions.

AB 5—California’s new independent contractor law—comes under fire

02/03/2020
Opponents of California’s controversial new independent contractor law, AB 5, have moved to get a competing law on the ballot. They fear that if gig workers became employees, as they would under AB 5, it would raise some employer costs an estimated 30%.

California employees can collect penalties for unpaid wages

02/03/2020
A new amendment to Labor Code Section 210 allows employees to recover civil penalties without going through the Labor Commissioner.

EPA vs. Title VII: Court lowers standard needed to prove pay discrimination

01/28/2020
The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers New York employers, has made it easier for workers to prove they were paid less because of sex discrimination.

Joint employer? 3 scenarios to help you decide

01/23/2020
The new Department of Labor joint-employer rule that takes effect March 16 will make it less likely that more than one employer will be held liable for the same federal wage-and-hour violation. Here are three scenarios that illustrate how the rule will apply.

Liability lurks in work-sponsored ‘happy hour’

01/21/2020
Employers that encourage after-work get-togethers may want to temper the social expectations they place on employees, depending on how a Pennsylvania Supreme Court case turns out. The state’s highest court will decide whether attending such events counts as work.

More lawsuits winning class-action status

01/16/2020
Employees managed to convert individual lawsuits against their employers into class actions at a record-breaking clip in 2019, according to the Seyfarth Shaw law firm’s annual Workplace Class Action Litigation Report.

DOL rule narrows ‘joint employer’ status

01/14/2020
A new Department of Labor rule tightens the definition of what constitutes a joint employer under the Fair Labor Standards Act, making it less likely that more than one entity can be held liable for the same federal wage-and-hour violations.