FLSA

Subscribe to FLSA via RSS

In April 2024, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued its final rule raising the threshold salary requirements under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for employees classified as exempt from overtime pay when working in excess of forty (40) hours in a seven (7) day workweek, (the “2024 rule”). The 2024 rule, scheduled to take effect July 1, 2024, increases the salary thresholds for the executive, administrative, and professional (EAP) exemptions, and highly compensated exemption (HCE). Specifically, the 2024 rule increases the EAP exemptions from $684 per week ($35,568 per year) to $844 per week ($43,888 per year) effective July 1st, and a subsequent increase on January 1, 2025, to $1,128 per week ($58,656 per year). For the HCE, the salary threshold will increase from $107,432 per year to $132,964 per year on July 1st, and a subsequent increase on January 1, 2025, to $151,164 per year.Continue Reading Court Scrutiny Faced by The Department of Labor’s New Rule Increasing Exempt Employee Salary Thresholds

The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that an employer’s guaranteed daily rate pay plan for an employee earning more than $200,000 per year did not meet the “salary basis” requirement of the federal Fair Labor Standard Act’s (“FLSA”) executive exemption test, and therefore, the employee was entitled to overtime pay for all hours he worked over 40 in a given 7-day workweek.  This decision highlights the importance for employers of correctly classifying employees under the FLSA’s exemptions from overtime pay.  Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. v. Hewitt, __ U.S. __ (Feb. 22, 2023)(“Helix”).  Simply paying an employee a substantial amount of money each year may not satisfy the technical requirements of the FLSA.
Continue Reading Supreme Court Rules Employee Earning $200,000 Per Year On A Daily Rate Is Entitled To Overtime

On February 9, 2023, the United States Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division (“DOL”) published an Opinion Letter addressing the use of leave pursuant to the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) by an employee with a serious health condition to create a reduced scheduled workweek for an indefinite time period.  That same day, the DOL also clarified in a Field Assistance Bulletin the application of several specific Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) provisions and FMLA eligibility requirements to remote-based employees.  Neither of these publications create new law, but each serves as a helpful reminder of some of the more precise requirements of each law.  Below is a summary of the main points of each publication.
Continue Reading United States Department of Labor Issues guidance on the FMLA and FLSA

As we enter the winter holiday season, many employers begin to contemplate paying year-end bonuses to employees.  It is a nice gesture of appreciation for work performed throughout the year and welcomed by employees.  However, the payment of bonuses continues to be an area where many employers fail to comply with the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”).  At a recent employment law webinar, the Regional Director for the Wage and Hour Division of the US Department of Labor underscored the ongoing compliance problem with employers failing to calculate the correct overtime rate.  The typical problem occurs in the calculation of the “regular rate of pay” for overtime hours worked.
Continue Reading Year End Bonuses and The Fair Labor Standards Act

On January 6, 2021, the Department of Labor (DOL) announced its final rule seeking to make it easier to classify workers as independent contractors.  The distinction is not without difference, as the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and many of its state analogues only protect employees, but do not extend to independent contractors – including many gig economy workers.  However, as made clear by the new rule, merely identifying a worker as an “independent contractor” does not mean the employer is off the hook.
Continue Reading Better Classification for our Economic Reality

The Department of Labor (DOL) has proposed a rule that seeks to make it easier to classify workers as independent contractors.  The distinction is not without difference, as the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and many of its state analogues only protect employees, but do not extend to independent contractors – including many gig economy workers.  However, as made clear by the proposed rule, merely identifying a worker as an “independent contractor” does not mean the employer is off the hook.
Continue Reading Better Classification for our Economic Reality

Calculation of “regular rate” of pay is something which has long given employers fits, and the US Department of Labor (“DOL”) has taken a step which it hopes will clarify the definition, something which hasn’t been done in 50 years.  On December 12, 2019 the Final Rule interpreting “regular rate” was announced.

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) employers are required to pay non-exempt workers time and one half the “regular rate” for every hour worked over 40.  According to the regulations, the “regular rate” includes all remuneration paid to the employee except for certain payments specifically excluded under the FLSA.  This would include wages paid by the hour, by salary, or by piecework and most bonuses, commissions, incentive pay, shift differentials, and on-call pay. Excluded payments, by definition, are premium payments for certain work (e.g. Sunday premium pay), discretionary bonuses, holiday gifts, and vacation pay.Continue Reading USDOL Issues Guidance on “Regular Rate” of Pay

In an opinion letter dated April 29, 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) explained that some service providers working for a virtual marketplace company (VMC) are independent contractors under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).   This opinion letter identifies the test the DOL is expected to use when considering the classification of workers…

The Federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires that covered employees who work more than forty hours in a week be paid overtime.  However, the statute contains a number of exemptions removing certain groups of employees from the law’s protections.  These “exempt” employees are not entitled to overtime pay when they work more than forty hours in a week, whereas “non-exempt” employees must be paid at the higher overtime rate for excess hours.
Continue Reading Supreme Court Expands FLSA Exemptions to Include Auto Dealership Service Advisors

Last week, the Department of Labor issued new guidance on whether interns are “employees” covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act’s minimum wage and overtime provisions.  In the updated guidance, the DOL has adopted the “primary beneficiary test,” first applied by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in 2015, and used by a growing number of courts in recent years.
Continue Reading DOL Issues New Guidance on Unpaid Internships