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,…
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…
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),…
To prevent the consequences from imprecise employee handbook language, employers should regularly review their handbooks and written policies. Since wage and hour lawsuits make up a significant part of litigation, W&H provisions can make a difference as you draft or…
Properly executed arbitration agreements can prohibit employees from bringing Fair Labor Standards Act collective actions in some federal courts. This is despite a National Labor Relations Board decision holding that mandatory arbitration for employment disputes violates the National Labor Relations…
Employers using unpaid interns need to be wary as lawsuits challenging the structure of these unpaid jobs continue to crop up. In recent years, several high-profile lawsuits — primarily in the publishing and entertainment industries — have highlighted the exposure…
Just because it’s the holiday season does not mean employers can relax their vigilance on wage and hour issues. The U.S. Department of Labor has its own list of who’s been naughty or nice (by its standards), and employers that…
As the holiday season approaches, employers and employees are beginning to anticipate holiday bonuses. Whether they come in the form of material gifts, cash awards or other benefits, employers should be careful in providing them, because sometimes bonuses must be…
Police officers in Richmond, Va., will be paid $7.2 million in unpaid overtime under the terms of a settlement agreement approved July 27 by a federal judge. The settlement between more than 600 officers and the city resolved a year-long…
A sweeping new U.S. Department of Labor enforcement initiative targeting California’s apparel industry may highlight wage and hour compliance issues for retailers and manufacturers. The companies that make, ship, market and sell clothing have long faced scrutiny over labor practices…