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Category: FLSA

Should Expense Reimbursements Be Included When Calculating Overtime? A New Opinion Letter Explains

In the Biden Administration’s first opinion letter interpreting the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Wage and Hour Division has discussed the effect of expense reimbursements on an employee’s regular pay rate for the employee’s overtime premium. An oil and gas industry employer that reimburses its pipeline inspectors $25 per day for the use of their personal mobile phones, cameras, and computers...
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Category: Disability, Accommodations, and Leaves

DOL Proposes Phasing Out Subminimum Wages for People With Disabilities

DOL’s Wage and Hour Division published a proposed rule December 4 that would phase out the Section 14(c) certificate program that allows employers to pay less than the minimum wage to individuals with disabilities. If the proposed rule were adopted in its current form, applications sent on or after the rule’s effective date would be ignored, and existing certificates would...
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Category: DOL

DOL’s Increase to Minimum Salary Threshold for White-Collar Overtime Exemption Blocked Nationwide

A federal court has vacated a Labor Department rule that increased the minimum salary level for the “white-collar” overtime exemption. Therefore, the prior minimum salary threshold of $684 weekly is back in effect. The opinion came November 15 by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in Texas v. U.S. Dep’t of Labor. The Biden Administration’s final...
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Category: ADA

U.S. Supreme Court Set To Hear Four Employment-Related Cases During New Term

The U.S. Supreme Court began its 2024-2025 term this week with several employment law cases on its docket: Stanley v. City of Sanford—This case concerns a disabled retiree’s challenge under the Americans with Disabilities Act of a change in retiree benefits that occurred more than 20 years ago. E.M.D. Sales v. Carrera—This case concerns the Fair Labor Standards Act’s exemption...
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Category: FLSA

Fifth Circuit Rules FLSA Recognizes DOL Power To Set White Collar “Salary Basis” Test

The Department of Labor acted within its authority in requiring employers to pay a minimum salary to employees who are classified as exempt from federal minimum wage and overtime requirements, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled September 11 in Mayfield v. DOL. A unanimous three-judge panel noted that DOL has included a minimum-salary requirement in the...
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Category: FLSA

Fifth Circuit Vacates DOL’s “80/20 Rule” for Paying Tipped Workers

A federal appeals court has thrown out the Biden Administration’s “80/20 Rule” rule governing the payment of tipped employees, finding it contrary to the language of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). In Restaurant Law Center v. U.S. Department of Labor, a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit invalidated the rule on August 23,...
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Category: FLSA

DOL’s Overtime Rule Takes Effect as Federal Court Blocks Enforcement Against Texas

The first phase of the U.S. Labor Department’s recent revisions to its overtime regulations for executive, administrative, and professional employees went into effect July 1, 2024. DOL’s final rule increased the minimum salary level from $684 per week to $844 per week (equivalent to an annual salary of $43,888) on July 1, 2024, and to $1,128 per week (equivalent to an annual...
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Category: DOL

DOL Claims Manufacturer Is Jointly Liable for Child Labor Violations Committed by Its Supplier

The U.S. Department of Labor recently filed a lawsuit alleging that an auto manufacturer is jointly liable for child labor violations committed by one of its suppliers and the supplier’s staffing company. In its complaint, DOL alleges that the auto manufacturer is so interrelated with its supplier that it is an integrated employer for liability purposes under the Fair Labor Standards Act...
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Category: Compensation

Highlights From CWC’s Web Workshop on DOL’s New “White Collar” Overtime Regulations

The Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC), our affiliated nonprofit membership association, held a members-only web workshop May 7, 2024, to discuss the Labor Department’s new white-collar overtime regulations, which will take effect July 1, 2024. DOL’s rule increases the minimum amount that a salaried employee must be paid to be exempt from overtime pay—from the current $684 per week to...
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Category: FLSA

DOL Raises White Collar Overtime Threshold by 65%, Leaves Employers Little Time To Comply

The U.S. Department of Labor has issued a final rule revising the white-collar exemptions to the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime rules that will make thousands of additional salaried executive, administrative, and professional employees eligible for overtime pay. The rule will increase the minimum amount that a salaried employee must be paid to be exempt from overtime pay—from the current...

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