Although “joint employment” is not a new legal concept, in recent years federal agencies such as the Department of Labor and National Labor Relations Board have made aggressive efforts to expand its application. The targets of those who seek to expand the concept of joint employment are typically employers who use independent contractors (common in
Wage and Hour
Eighth Circuit Reverses $700k Verdict in Wage and Hour Case based upon Non-Compliance with Scheduling Order
It’s not very often an appellate court takes away a jury verdict because of the trial court’s discretionary ruling to extend a deadline. The case is Petrone v. Werner Enterprises (8th Cir. 10/10/2019). Student drivers for Werner Enterprises brought a FLSA collective action for alleged unpaid wages earned during an eight weeks student-driver training…
Will the DOL’s Renewed Effort to Increase the Minimum Salary for Exempt Employees Fare Any Better than the Last Time it Tried?
In a widely publicized move, the U.S. Department of Labor on March 7 proposed an update to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) regulations governing employees who are exempt from overtime. The most significant change in the proposal is to raise the minimum salary an employee must earn to qualify as exempt from overtime. The…
Uncertainty Over the Future of Salary Test Remains Despite Court Ruling Invalidating Obama-Era Increase
On August 31, 2017, Judge Amos Mazzant in the Eastern District of Texas issued a final ruling invalidating the Obama Department of Labor’s increase in the minimum salary for exempt employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act. This is the same judge that issued the preliminary injunction on November 22, 2016 that prevented the rule…
Is it Really Possible the DOL’s Increase of the Minimum Salary for Exempt Employees Could Come Back?
This time last year many employers were anxious about the new Department of Labor Rule that raised the minimum salary for exempt employees to $913 per week, more than double the existing minimum of $455. The Rule was scheduled to become effective December 1, 2016. Then, in a surprising stroke of fortune, on November…
Surprise! The Employees of the Vendor You Hired Might be Your Employees Too
While “joint employment” is not a new legal concept, federal agencies such as the Department of Labor and National Labor Relations Board have aggressively sought to expand its application in recent years.
A joint employment situation typically occurs when an employer uses an independent contractor or vendor for certain services, or relies upon a…
What Happens Next with the DOL Overtime Rules?
We posted on November 23 about the surprising temporary injunction issued to stop the new overtime rules from going into effect on December 1. Many employers breathed a sigh of relief, but still wondered if this injunction was only a short term reprieve that could be taken away next year. Here are a few things…
Texas Court Grants Injunction Delaying the Department of Labor’s New Overtime Rules
On November 22, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting the Department of Labor from implementing and enforcing the new overtime rule as scheduled on December 1, 2016.
The new rule more than doubled the minimum salary an employee needed to qualify as exempt from overtime under…
Court of Appeals Ruling a Reminder that the Duties Test Still Matters for Supervisors
There remains a surprising number of employers who believe an employee with the title of “supervisor” who is paid a fixed salary is exempt from the federal overtime requirements. While such an employee may be exempt, it is not because of the title, and the salary is only one of the components (assuming the salary…
Does Polk County Have the Legal Right to Iowa Impose a Higher Minimum Wage?
The minimum wage has been in the news a lot lately. Here in central Iowa, the Polk County Board of Supervisors appointed a task force to study whether to raise the minimum wage in the County over and above the federal and state law minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. Now the task force…