New York Enacts Domestic Workers' Bill of Rights
On August 31, 2010, just in time for Labor Day, New York Governor David Paterson signed into law the “Domestic Workers Bill of Rights” (“Bill of Rights”), which grants certain employment protections to household domestic workers such as nannies, caregivers and housekeepers. The Bill of Rights, which takes effect on November 29, 2010, is the first of its kind in the nation and amends New York Labor Law, in addition to other statutes, to entitle domestic workers to receive overtime pay, one day of rest per week or overtime pay when they work on their day of rest, and three days of paid time off after one year of employment. To learn more about the law and its implications for employers, please continue reading Littler's ASAP, "New York Enacts Bill of Rights for Domestic Workers," by Stephen A. Fuchs.
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held that employees do not have a private right of action under Labor Code § 351 to pursue remedies for misappropriated tips. The decision does not, however, address whether or not a cause of action for unfair competition may be predicated on Labor Code § 351, leaving employers exposed to unfair competition law (UCL) claims for providing tips to “agents” of the employer.
The City of Austin, Texas recently 
On July 30, 2010, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed .jpg)
Section 203(o) of the Fair Labor Standards Act provides that time spent changing clothes or washing at the beginning or end of the workday may be excluded from hours worked pursuant to the terms of, or custom or practice under a collective bargaining agreement. Many states impose their own wage and hour requirements, however. In .jpg)
The Connecticut Supreme Court recently issued a decision in which it unanimously concluded that a year-end bonus, the amount of which is discretionary, does not constitute wages under Connecticut’s wage and hour statute, 
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This week, Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA) introduced legislation that would extend the federal minimum wage and overtime protections of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to most home care workers, improve federal and state data collection and oversight with respect to the direct care workforce, and create a grant program to help states recruit and train direct care workers. Specifically, the Direct Care Workforce Empowerment Act (.jpg)
Following a Connecticut district court’s denial of summary judgment to the employer in Ruggeri v. Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a collective action brought by pharmaceutical sales representatives who claimed the were improperly classified as exempt employees, the pharmaceutical company has been hit with another putative collective action by sales representatives seeking overtime wages. But in this new case, Lopez-Lima v. Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, filed on July 21, 2010 in the federal District Court for the Southern District of Florida, plaintiffs allege that Boehringer hired them as “non-exempt commission-paid pharmaceuticals sales representative[s].” To learn more about the case, please .jpg)
The Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) has released a fact sheet to help employers comply with the lactation break time obligations established by the new health care law. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“Affordable Care Act”) amends section 7 of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to require employers to provide rest breaks and suitable space for employees who are nursing mothers to express breast milk for up to one year after the child’s birth. To learn more about the fact sheet, please 