• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

FLSA

Telework before commute: Is drive time paid?

06/23/2011

Many employees spend time at home before or after their workday checking email. For nonexempt employees, that work could count as paid time if it amounts to a “substantial” amount of time. But now some hourly employees have begun to raise a related issue: If they start the day with a few work emails, shouldn’t they be paid for the time they spend commuting to work?

Employee fired for filing Form SS-8 may sue

06/20/2011
A worker who was fired after admitting to his employer that he filed Form SS-8 with the IRS to determine his status as an independent contractor or employee can continue his lawsuit for unpaid overtime, a federal trial court has ruled.

Employee must prove class action is warranted

06/16/2011
Lately, California employers have faced a flood of class-action lawsuits claiming they misclassified employees. Now that tide might turn, thanks to a ruling by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Know the risks of DOL’s new time sheet app

06/16/2011
A few weeks ago, U.S. employees gained a powerful new tool to prove their wage-and-hour cases: the new “Timesheet” app for smartphones from the DOL’s Wage and Hour Divi­sion. Impact: Now employees may claim they have the most accurate time records! All the more incentive for you to accurately track actual hours worked—not just hours written on a time sheet.

Feds issue new tip credit pooling rules

06/15/2011
Employers are now free to set the percentage of employee tips that can be placed in a tip pool. In years past, several court decisions conflicted with the U.S. Department of Labor’s position restricting the amount of tips an employer could require to be pooled.

Thinking of stiffing illegal immigrant workers? Better be ready to defend huge class-action suit

06/15/2011
The fact that a worker is in this coun­try illegally does not mean he can’t file a Fair Labor Standards Act overtime lawsuit. What’s more, that case can turn into a class-action suit, representing all other similarly situated illegal workers.

What are the details on new FLSA regulations?

06/10/2011
Q. I’ve heard there are new Fair Labor Standards Act regulations coming. When do the final regulations updating the FLSA become effective?

With DOL cracking down, get employee classification right

06/10/2011
In the past year, the U.S. Department of Labor has renewed its focus on combating employee misclassification, and there has been a recent significant increase in the number of wage-and-hour lawsuits. In many of these cases, workers are challenging their designation as exempt employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Feds issue new tip-credit pooling rules

06/10/2011
Employers are now free to set the percentage of employee tips that can be placed in a tip pool. In years past, several court decisions conflicted with the U.S. Department of Labor’s position restricting the amount of tips an employer could require to be pooled.

Don’t court lawsuit by allowing early clock-ins

06/10/2011
Beware if you allow employees to clock in early, but tell them not to start work before their scheduled start times. If early clock-ins are routinely unpaid, there may be a class-action lawsuit brewing.