On November 5, USDOL’s Wage and Hour Division issued a press release with the enticing title, “U.S. Department of Labor Announces Proposal to Expand Access to Bonuses for America’s Workers.” Despite the title, the WHD is not unveiling any new FLSA bonus provisions or programs.  Rather, it is announcing a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to address yet another glitch caused by the agency’s 2011 “clean-up regulations” regarding the fluctuating workweek method of paying non-exempt…

Dickinson, Mackaman, Tyler & Hagen has been ranked in the 2020 U.S. News – Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms” list regionally in 26 practice areas.   This list recognizes firms who exhibit professional excellence with impressive ratings from their clients and peers. Ranked firms are presented in tiers on a national and/or metropolitan scale.  Dickinson, Mackaman, Tyler & Hagen received the following rankings in the 2020 U.S. News – Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms”: Metropolitan Tier 1 Des Moines Banking…

Working to clarify the jumbled mess of FLSA tipped worker regulations, on October 8, 2019, the Department of Labor announced a proposed rule that incorporates recent court rulings and statutory changes to the FLSA. The FLSA allows employers to take a credit towards the minimum wage for tipped employees. This “tip credit” is the difference between the required federal cash wage for tipped workers, currently $2.13 per hour, and the federal minimum wage of $7.25…

In a press release dated September 26, 2019, the DOL Wage and Hour Division announced that since implementing its PAID Program in April of 2018, it has completed 74 cases, with back wage findings of $4,131,238 found due to 7429 employees. Under the PAID program, employers were to conduct self-audits and self-report FLSA violations they find to the WHD.  If accepted into PAID, employers then worked with WHD to correct the violations and to pay…

On Tuesday September 24, 2019, the DOL announced its latest attempt to raise the minimum salary required for application of the so-called EAP exemptions for executive, administrative and professional employees under the FLSA. Earlier this year, the DOL published a proposed EAP rule for public comment. The new final rule, which will take effect on January 1, 2020,  incorporates most of that proposed rule.  The DOL estimates that about 1.3 million workers who hadn’t previously…

Speaking at the Iowa Federation of Labor’s annual convention in mid-August, 2019, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, told Democratic presidential candidates who have been working the state, “If you want our endorsement … show us that you’re unambiguously pro-worker and pro-union.” A few weeks earlier, on August 6, 2019, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters issued a press release announcing that the national presidential campaign staff of Sen. Cory Booker had chosen Teamsters Des Moines Local…

Speaking at the Iowa Federation of Labor’s  annual convention in mid-August, 2019, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, told Democratic presidential candidates who have been working the state, “If you want our endorsement … show us that you’re unambiguously pro-worker and pro-union.” A few weeks earlier, on August 6, 2019, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters issued a press release announcing that the national presidential campaign staff of Sen. Cory Booker had chosen Teamsters Des Moines…