May 21 is National Waiters and Waitresses Day. The origin of the holiday is unclear, but it recognizes the value and importance of a good waiter or waitress, and encourages restaurant patrons to reward their food servers with good tips….
Category Archives: Employment Law
On National Waiters and Waitresses Day, Proper FLSA Payment Must Be Considered
May 21, 2013 – 5:38 pm
New ADA Compliance Guidance Covers Cancer, Diabetes, Epilipsy and Intellectual Disabilities
May 20, 2013 – 11:38 am
The agency responsible for enforcing the Americans with Disabilities has revised several of its guidance documents to reflect recent changes to the law. The May 15 changes were necessary because of the ADA Amendments Act, which expanded the law’s coverage…
Is Time Spent Traveling to Trainings Outside of Normal Working Time Compensable?
May 10, 2013 – 11:13 am
If an employee who typically works a Monday through Friday schedule, travels out of town on a Sunday to attend a training that will be held on Monday, is the employee entitled to be paid for the time he/she is…
Strategies for Coping With a Wage and Hour Audit
May 1, 2013 – 3:22 pm
Thousands of employers get a figurative knock-on-the-door each year from an investigator from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division. WHD is the agency responsible for enforcing the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act,…
Supreme Court: Individual Settlement Offer Moots FLSA Collective Action Claim
April 18, 2013 – 4:43 pm
In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court held April 16 that because an employee received an individual settlement offer that fully satisfied her Fair Labor Standard Act claims, her individual and collective action claims could not go forward. The…
FLSA’s Emergency Exemption May Apply to Some Boston Employees
April 17, 2013 – 12:44 pm
Emergency situations — such as the April 15 explosions during the Boston Marathon — can result in employees performing multiple job duties. For example, a store manager may have spent time cleaning up glass and debris in and around the…
Can Individual Managers Be Held Liable for Wrongful Discharge? The Answer May Surprise You
April 10, 2013 – 2:32 pm
By Jonathan Mook Virtually all states recognize a common law tort claim of wrongful discharge in violation of a state’s established public policy. In most instances, a lawsuit alleging such a claim is brought solely against the plaintiff’s former employer….
Apply Now for HIPAA-standard Health Plan Identifier
April 8, 2013 – 10:05 am
Health plans now may begin applying for the standard health plan identifier required by HIPAA, CMS has announced. The online application was posted March 29 on CMS’ Health Plan and Other Entity Enumeration System (HPOES). Most HIPAA-covered health plans, including employer…
7th Circuit: Successor Must Pay $500K for Previous Owner’s FLSA Violations
April 5, 2013 – 4:13 pm
A successor employer could not escape paying a $500,000 damages award for the previous owner’s Fair Labor Standards Act violations. The case, Teed et al. v. Thomas & Betts Power Solutions LLC, Nos. 12-2440, 12-3029 (7th Cir. March 26, 2013),…
12 States Trying to Beat Feds to the Gate on Higher Minimum Wages
April 1, 2013 – 12:05 pm
As the federal minimum wage debate heats up, the real challenge for employers could be at the state level, if a dozen pending measures to increase state minimum wages gain traction. The proposals share DNA with federal measures being pushed…