New FLSA Regulations Take Effect Today (May 5)

New Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) regulations incorporating amendments and clarifications from recent years take effect today, May 5, 2011. The new rules also concern tip pooling arrangements, which make clear that tips cannot be diverted from people receiving them unless a valid tip-pooling arrangement has been established and promulgated to participants. The regulations navigate [...]

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In Its First Test, DOL’s Internship Standard Loses in Court

Calling the Department of Labor's Fact Sheet #71—"Internship Programs Under the Fair Labor Standards Act"—"a poor method" and "overly rigid and inconsistent," the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of a for-profit nursing home that relied in part on interns to run its operations. The Labor Department issued a six-factor test to [...]

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SCOTUS Rules Oral Complaints as Valid as Written Ones

The U.S. Supreme Court today (March 22, 2011) overturned the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling that, to be valid, complaints under the anti-retaliation provision of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) must be in writing. In Kasten v. Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics, the justices rejected what they termed a "narrow interpretation" of language in the [...]

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Courts Disagree on Overtime Status of Pharma Representatives

The U.S. Supreme Court may end up deciding the issue, but for now one circuit court is saying yea and another nay to whether pharmaceutical sales representatives are eligible for overtime pay. The issue centers on the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) exemption from overtime rules for those employees who are engaged in outside sales. [...]

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DOL Collects $300 Million in Back Wages in New Enforcement Push

The Department of Labor (DOL) announced recently that it has collected more than $300 million in back wages since 2009, benefiting some 385,000 workers. Typically, back wages represent overtime pay that was withheld either knowingly or unknowingly. Since taking over, the Obama administration and DOL Secretary Hilda Solis have beefed up their inspection force by hiring [...]

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New Child Labor Regulations Take Effect Monday, July 19

The Department of Labor (DOL) recently updated its regulations regarding child labor in the U.S.—calling them "the most ambitious and far-reaching revisions" in the past 30 years—and these new regs are set to go into effect this coming Monday, July 19, 2010. The updated regulations effect a variety of changes to how DOL will interpret [...]

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DOL Cracks Down on Illegal Employment of Youths

The Department of Labor (DOL) has announced stiffer penalties for violation of the child labor laws covered under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and other pieces of legislation.  "Beginning today, employers who hire children too young to work will face stiffer penalties," said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. "Work is not child’s play. [...]

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Reclassifying Employees as Non-Exempt a Proven Red Flag

If you find yourself reclassifying your employees as non-exempt (from previously being exempt), then you could end up in deep legal doo-doo like the Michigan Bell Telephone Company. Reason? It doesn’t take employees long to figure out that, if they’re doing the same jobs as exempt as when they were non-exempt, then they were probably [...]

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DOL Mulls New Approach to Compliance

The Department of Labor (DOL), in issuing an updated regulatory agenda this past week, announced it was considering a major change in its approach to enforcement. Instead of letting businesses play what it called a "catch me if you can" game, the DOL said it will issue regulations requiring each company to develop and implement [...]

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California Adopts Federal Standard on Unpaid Interns

The California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) had long made life complicated for employers in the state who wanted to bring on board unpaid interns, adding an extra five criteria to those spelled out in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). But all that has changed now that the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) [...]

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