A few weeks ago, the Department of Labor filed a brief with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in which it backed away from the $913 per week salary level test set in the 2016 amendments to the FLSA overtime rules. In that brief, the DOL stated that it would soon publish a request for information seeking public input to be used by the DOL in drafting a new proposed overtime rule.
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US DOL Reinstates Opinion Letters
On June 27, 2017, U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta announced that the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) will reinstate the issuance of opinion letters. You might be wondering why this decision is important to businesses. The answer is two-fold: (1) opinion letters provide interpretation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) so that employers understand their rights and responsibilities under the law; and (2) opinion letters may be relied upon as a good faith defense to wage claims arising under the FLSA.
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US Secretary of Labor Withdraws Joint Employment, Independent Contractor Informal Guidance
The US Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced today that Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta has withdrawn the DOL’s 2015 and 2016 informal guidance on joint employment and independent contractors. We previously reported on these issues when the guidance was published under the prior Secretary. For more information on the guidance please refer to our posts
Two Weeks Into the Trump Administration: Where are we with Labor and Employment Regulations?
Typically with an incoming administration there is a waiting period of sorts before changes in pending and certainly existing regulations kick in. The current administration, however, appears to be working at an accelerated pace toward upending the status quo. So, it appears time for a quick check-in on where we are and what to expect.
On Inauguration day, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus Jan. 20 instructed federal agencies to freeze all pending regulations, a move that seems to include a number of labor and employment initiatives that were in the works under the Obama administration.
This type of freeze is not unusual when a new president takes office. An action of this nature does not necessarily mean that significant changes are coming, but given candidate Trump’s campaign promise to roll back regulation on business, we can at least predict that the administration will be in no rush to move on the pending matters.
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It’s That Time of Year Again: DOL is Making Its List and Checking it Twice
Annually, the New Hampshire Department of Labor issues a list of the top ten most frequent violations it sees in audits and claims filed before it. The list doesn’t change dramatically from year to year, but violations move up and down the list giving us a clue as to where the DOL may focus its