Wage & Hour Counsel : Wage & Hour Lawyer & Attorney : Littler Mendelson Law Firm : Employment Law, Labor Relations

As we reported last year, the Division of Wage and Hour Compliance at the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development rejected federal “rounding” rules for enforcement purposes under New Jersey law. Specifically, while the U.S. Department of Labor assesses the impact of rounding “over a period of time” (and allows rounding practices that “average out” over time), the Division announced that it would evaluate the impact of rounding on a week-to-week basis. According to the Division, if an employer rounds, it must be to the benefit of the employee each week in order to comply with New Jersey law.

• Email This
• Print
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

Effective March 24, 2010, employers in Utah are now permitted to use pay cards to compensate their employees for their wages or salary. The new regulation (Utah Admin. Rule R610-3-22) defines a pay card as a “stored value card that can be used at an ATM-type machine to access wages that are credited to the card.” If an employer in Utah intends to pay employees with a pay card, it must ensure that this new practice meets the following conditions:

1. With one use, or a single transaction, the employee must be able to withdraw the full amount of earned wages without incurring a fee.
2. The full amount of wages for a pay period shall be available for the employee via the pay card on the applicable payday.
3. On each payday, the employer must provide the employee with a written or electronic statement of deductions from the employee’s gross wages for the pay period at issue.
    

• Email This
• Print
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

In April 2010, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a new Fact Sheet discussing the circumstances under which “interns must be paid the minimum wage and overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for services that they provide to ‘for-profit’ private sector employers.” At the same time, California’s Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) stated in an opinion letter that it will apply the same rules that the DOL has applied in the past and will continue to apply as described in the Fact Sheet.

• Email This
• Print
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

Legislation introduced in both the House and Senate would impose new record-keeping requirements on employers that hire independent contractors, and impose stricter penalties for misclassification. Introduced by Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), the Employee Misclassification Prevention Act (H.R. 5107, S. 3254) would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to require employers to keep records on and notify workers of their employment or independent contractor classification and their right to challenge that classification. For more information on the legislation and its implications for employers, continue reading at Littler's D.C. Employment Law Update blog.

• Email This
• Print
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

The Maryland General Assembly recently amended the Maryland Wage Payment and Collection Law (MWP&CL) in two significant ways. The MWP&CL governs the timing of payment and payment of wages (such as salary, bonus or commissions) upon the termination of employment.

First, the General Assembly added “overtime wages” to the definition of “wage.” Accordingly, if a court now finds that an employer withheld overtime wages, other than as a result of a bona fide dispute, the employee may be entitled to treble damages. This represents a change from existing court precedent, which provided that an employee could sue for overtime wages only under the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Maryland Wage and Hour Law, but not under the MWP&CL. Notably, the new law fails to provide any guidance to courts about how the conflicting penalty sections of these statutes should be reconciled.

• Email This
• Print
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

On March 25, 2010, the central district court of California denied class certification in two consolidated cases, Spainhower v U.S. Bank and Williams v. U.S. Bank, a decision that could impact plaintiffs’ attempts to certify future misclassification cases in federal court. In their motion, the plaintiffs sought certification of all in-store branch managers whom they claim were misclassified as exempt under the executive, administrative, and outside sales exemptions. Although the plaintiffs’ motion sought class certification under Rule 23(b)(2) or (b)(3), their supporting points and authorities only argued for certification under Rule 23(b)(3). The court found that the plaintiffs failed to meet their burden under Rule 23(b)(3) because individualized factual inquiries would inevitably consume the majority of a trial and overwhelm the adjudication of common issues.

• Email This
• Print
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

While the most recent change to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the attention it may receive might seem small in comparison to Health Care Reform, the FLSA Amendment is significant. The Amendment, which now provides break time to nursing mothers, imposes a new requirement under the FLSA. For further analysis on the Amendment and its implications for employers, continue reading at Littler's D.C. Employment Law Update blog.

• Email This
• Print
• Trackbacks
• Share Link