Archives: Department of Labor

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Department Of Labor Publishes Tipped Employee Final Rule

By David Grant and Caroline M. Landt on November 1, 2021 Posted in Department of Labor

On Friday, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published its Final Rule governing tipped employees. The DOL kept the sweeping changes to the regulation of employees paid using a tip credit wage, which it introduced this past June in its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM). Buttressed by the 11th Circuit’s recent decision in Rafferty v. … Continue Reading

Snapshot or Long Exposure? Dep’t Of Labor Approves New IC Test … For Now

By Todd Lebowitz on January 6, 2021 Posted in Department of Labor, Independent Contractor, Wage and Hour

This octopus in New Zealand has been trained to take photos of visitors to the Sea Life Aquarium. That’s a pretty neat trick. I’m sure the visitors love it and will pay whatever exorbitant fee the aquarium charges to profit on the back of its cephalopod slave labor, but will the photos last? Do the … Continue Reading

DOL Issues New Guidance on Several FFCRA Issues

By Greg Mersol on September 14, 2020 Posted in Department of Labor

Introduction The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) was enacted just under six months ago in the wake of closings prompted by the then new coronavirus pandemic. As most employers know, the FFCRA created leave rights for many employees of employers with fewer than 500 employees for absences caused by the virus and its aftermath. … Continue Reading

Joint Employment Test Gets Muddied Again: Federal Court Rejects New DOL Test

By Todd Lebowitz on September 9, 2020 Posted in Department of Labor

Muddy Waters is how you want your blues, not how you want your laws. A federal district judge in New York yesterday kicked up a lot of mud in an area of the law that had finally seen some clarity – the definition of “joint employment.” Now we’re back in the muck. Yesterday’s ruling struck down … Continue Reading

DOL Issues Guidance on Employers’ Obligation to Pay Nonexempt Employees for Time Worked Remotely

By Fanny Ferdman on August 31, 2020 Posted in Department of Labor

Employers and employees alike have had much confusion around proper compensation when nonexempt employees work remotely – particularly in today’s time when many employees are teleworking and working crazy schedules due to COVID-19. Truth is, in today’s world of remote working (which is new for many of us), employers are dealing with various issues relating … Continue Reading

What Is Joint Employment? New DOL Rules Take Effect in 60 Days

By Todd Lebowitz on January 13, 2020 Posted in Department of Labor

This week’s post is Family Feud Style. Name Three Things That Sound Like They Would Be “Joint Employment” But Are Not: 1. Long-haired, easy-going product tester at the local wacky tobacky dispensary. 2. Note taker at an orthopedist’s office. 3. The guy on radio ads for non-approved supplements claiming to relieve joint pain who says – … Continue Reading

Employers Speak Out on Proposed Changes to FLSA Overtime Rule

By Nathan A. Schacht and Jacob A. Bruner on October 10, 2018 Posted in Department of Labor, FLSA

On Sept. 14, 2018, the Department of Labor (DOL) conducted a fourth public listening session on proposed changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) overtime exemption. The session was one of four public listening sessions offered by the DOL last month. The series is part of a larger rulemaking and comment period being offered … Continue Reading

What Is the State of Joint Employment?

By Todd Lebowitz on October 7, 2018 Posted in Department of Labor, National Labor Relations Board

Each January, the President gives a State of the Union Address to a joint session of Congress. Throughout the speech, as the President touts his agenda and vision, half the audience cheers wildly, while the other half makes frowny faces. All the while, members of the Supreme Court sit stone-faced, internally cheering or wincing but … Continue Reading

The Much-Anticipated Proposed Overtime Regulations Would Extend Overtime Protection to Nearly 5 Million Workers in 2016

By Amy J. Traub and Adam Seldon on July 1, 2015 Posted in Department of Labor, FLSA, Retail

Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced a much-anticipated proposed rule that, among other things, more than doubles the salary threshold required for an employee to qualify as exempt from overtime pay under Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) regulations that define exempt executive, administrative, and professional employees (“exempt white collar employees”). The current salary … Continue Reading

President Obama Directs the DOL to Attack FLSA Exemptions

By Joel Griswold and Melissa Siebert on March 17, 2014 Posted in Department of Labor, FLSA, Wage and Hour

Everybody is talking about it – President Obama’s announcement at the end of last week that existing overtime regulations be “modernized” and “streamlined” – but what exactly does this mean? The answer is, only time will tell. In the “Presidential Memorandum” entitled “Updating and Modernizing Overtime Regulations,” the White House states that “regulations regarding exemptions … Continue Reading

Employers Under Continued Fire from Government Agencies and Legislature for Workplace Misclassification

By Jeanine Conley and Amy J. Traub on December 6, 2013 Posted in Department of Labor, DOL, FLSA, Independent Contractor, New York, Wage and Hour

New York has just become the 15th state to formally align its efforts with those of the United States Department of Labor (“DOL”) to crack down on the misclassification of employees as “independent contractors.” New York joins 14 other states (including California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Washington) that have partnered with the DOL to “root out bad … Continue Reading

Times, They Are A-Changing: Employers No Longer Permitted to Delay or Fail to Return NY Unemployment Insurance Requests – Penalties Now Imposed

By Amy J. Traub and Mackenna Mosier on November 19, 2013 Posted in Department of Labor, New York

Last month, the New York State Department of Labor (DOL) rather quietly effected legislation that had previously been signed by Governor Andrew Cuomo on March 29, 2013, reforming New York unemployment insurance law effective October 1, 2013. Many companies are just now beginning to receive a letter that looks this. The reform was enacted to … Continue Reading