Wage and Hour Defense Blog

Insight and Commentary on Wage and Hour Law Developments Affecting Employers

Blog Authors

AB C D E F G HIJ K L M N O PQR S TUVWXYZ

Matthew Savage Aibel

Carrie Anderer

Latest from Wage and Hour Defense Blog

Wage and Hour Defense Blog

U.S. DOL Renews Its Request to, and Extends the Deadline for, Employers and Employees to Comment on the DOL’s Recent Interpretive Guidance That It Issued in Connection with the Families First Coronavirus Response Act

By Jeffrey H. Ruzal

April 2, 2020

The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) has renewed its invitation to employers and employees to engage in a “national online dialogue” in connection with the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), which took effect on April 1. The DOL is soliciting comments and questions with respect to its questions and answers, posters, and fact sheets that it has published in connection with the FFCRA. The DOL has also extended the deadline from March 29 to…

Wage and Hour Defense Blog

U.S. Department of Labor Issues New Opinion Letters Clarifying Regular Rate Principles

By Jeffrey H. Ruzal, Adriana S. Kosovych & Carly Baratt

March 30, 2020

In addition to its recent, exigent responsibility of preparing guidance on the protections and relief offered by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (“WHD”) has issued three new opinion letters addressing the excludability of certain types of payments from the regular rate of pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). While these opinion letters do not tread new ground, they are useful reminders of important…

Wage and Hour Defense Blog

AB 5, Dynamex and Borello: What Standard Governs Independent Contractor Status In California?

By Michael S. Kun & Kevin Sullivan

March 30, 2020

It is no secret that independent contractor misclassification claims are being filed against employers with a great deal of frequency, often as class actions and often in California. Many of those lawsuits have been filed against gig economy companies. But, of course, they are not the only companies facing such claims. As a result, many companies that classify workers as independent contractors are asking a basic question, “Are those workers properly classified?” It sounds like…

Wage and Hour Defense Blog

Postmates Risks Judicial Rebuke by Filing Suit Against 10,000 of Its Drivers to Try to Escape Individual Arbitrations

By Michael S. Kun

March 27, 2020

Be careful what you ask for. We have used that expression frequently when writing about recent federal court orders requiring DoorDash and Postmates to conduct thousands of individual arbitrations in California pursuant to the terms of their arbitration agreements with their drivers. Thousands of individual arbitrations for which DoorDash and Postmates would have to pay many millions of dollars in arbitration fees alone. The risk of dozens, hundreds or even thousands of individual arbitrations attends…

Wage and Hour Defense Blog

Colorado Issues Emergency Temporary Changes to COMPS Order

By Nancy Gunzenhauser Popper, Alexandra Bruno Carlo & Alison Gabay

March 25, 2020

As previously discussed, Colorado officially adopted the Colorado Overtime and Minimum Pay Standards Order # 36 (“COMPS Order”) on January 22, 2020, which went into effect on March 16, 2020. However, the Division of Labor Standards and Statistics in the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (“the Division”) has recently implemented temporary emergency modifications to the COMPS Order. The temporary changes will remain in effect through July 14, 2020 (the “temporary period”), although the…

Wage and Hour Defense Blog

Work from Home Policies During COVID-19: Limiting Non-Exempt Employee Compensation for Waiting Time and On-Call Time

By Jeffrey H. Ruzal & Carly Baratt

March 25, 2020

Given the number of states that have already ordered the closure of non-essential businesses due to the COVID-19 pandemic, employers fortunate to remain operational are likely dealing with the myriad challenges of a remote workforce. As we previously wrote here, employers with work-from-home (“WFH”) policies in place need to make sure they are appropriately compensating their workers and are otherwise complying with all applicable federal, state, and local wage and hour laws. In the…

Wage and Hour Defense Blog

U.S DOL Solicits Employers and Employees for Comments in Connection with Impending Implementation of Families First Coronavirus Response Act

By Jeffrey H. Ruzal

March 25, 2020

The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) has invited employers and employees to engage in a “national online dialogue” in connection with the expected April 2, 2020 implementation of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). The DOL is soliciting comments and questions as it develops compliance assistance materials and outreach strategies related to FFCRA. Input may be offered online at https://ffcra.ideascale.com through March 29, 2020, or through Twitter chat hosted by @ePolicyWorks on March 25,…

Wage and Hour Defense Blog

Employees Telecommuting During Public Health Crisis May Be Entitled to Expense Reimbursement

By Kevin R. Vozzo

March 20, 2020

In an effort to slow the spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus (“COVID-19”), many employers around the country are encouraging—if not requiring—their employees to work remotely. Although telecommuting during a public health crisis presents obvious benefits, it also presents employers with unique challenges, such as ensuring compliance with applicable expense reimbursement laws. Employees working from home may incur any number of expenses – home computers, printers, Internet service, WiFi connections, smartphones and even paper,…

Wage and Hour Defense Blog

Ninth Circuit Ends Wage Statement Class Action Where Plaintiff Suffered No “Real-World Consequences” from Error in Employer’s Name

By Vanessa Manolatou

March 20, 2020

Employers in California have been inundated with wage-hour class actions for the past two decades. And, time and again, they have had to deal with employee-friendly decisions from the California Supreme Court. Leave it to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal to step in and put an end to a proposed class action, finding that there were no “real-world consequences” from wage statements that had an error in the employer’s name. In Lerna Mays v.…

Wage and Hour Defense Blog

Employers Facing Layoffs Need to Be Mindful of State Laws Regarding Final Pay

By Nancy Gunzenhauser Popper & Michael S. Kun

March 19, 2020

In the coming days, weeks and perhaps months, many employers will have difficult decisions to make about their operations and their workforces. With their operations shutting down or running at less than capacity, many employers will decide that they must lay off employees. It’s a decision that no employer wishes for or enjoys. And it is one that poses some risks. Not only must employers take steps to ensure that layoff decisions are made in…

Wage and Hour Defense Blog

Insight and Commentary on Wage and Hour Law Developments Affecting Employers

Blog Authors

U.S. DOL Renews Its Request to, and Extends the Deadline for, Employers and Employees to Comment on the DOL’s Recent Interpretive Guidance That It Issued in Connection with the Families First Coronavirus Response Act

U.S. Department of Labor Issues New Opinion Letters Clarifying Regular Rate Principles

AB 5, Dynamex and Borello: What Standard Governs Independent Contractor Status In California?

Postmates Risks Judicial Rebuke by Filing Suit Against 10,000 of Its Drivers to Try to Escape Individual Arbitrations

Colorado Issues Emergency Temporary Changes to COMPS Order

Work from Home Policies During COVID-19: Limiting Non-Exempt Employee Compensation for Waiting Time and On-Call Time

U.S DOL Solicits Employers and Employees for Comments in Connection with Impending Implementation of Families First Coronavirus Response Act

Employees Telecommuting During Public Health Crisis May Be Entitled to Expense Reimbursement

Ninth Circuit Ends Wage Statement Class Action Where Plaintiff Suffered No “Real-World Consequences” from Error in Employer’s Name

Employers Facing Layoffs Need to Be Mindful of State Laws Regarding Final Pay

Stay Connected

Company

Support

New to the Network