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

We are pleased to announce two new additions to the Littler blogroll:

Labor Relations Counsel
Brought to you by Littler's Labor Management Relations Practice Group, the Labor Relations Counsel blog targets meaningful legal developments, including appellate court decisions, NLRB and NMB decisions, and administrative rules and regulations. During this time of enormous governmental change and shifts in strategy and style of powerful labor unions, Littler's history and depth of experience in labor relations gives its attorneys a distinctly broad perspective with which to provide insight and useful analysis of the latest developments.

Digital Workplace Blog
The Digital Workplace Blog is a unique collaboration between Littler Mendelson and Stuart N. Brotman Communications, bringing together legal and business minds to address issues arising in the digital workplace. This approach is designed to provide readers with a comprehensive understanding of the issues, with Stuart N. Brotman Communications covering developments from a management perspective, and Littler examining the legal implications of technology in the workplace.

To receive email alerts of new postings, please enter your email address in the Subscribe box on each blog’s homepage.

Photo credit: ideabug

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On January 1, 2011, six states (listed below) will increase their minimum wage requirement. Two states—along with American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands— elected to keep their current rate. Colorado is considering an increase to the minimum wage which, if passed, will also take effect on January 1, 2011. The federal minimum wage rate remains unchanged at $7.25/hr.

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On October 13, 2010, Governor Rendell signed into law the Construction Workplace Misclassification Act. The Act curtails the circumstances under which a construction worker may be classified as an independent contractor for purposes of workers’ compensation and unemployment insurance.

Under the Act, to be classified as an independent contractor, a construction worker must meet three criteria: (1) have a written contract to perform services; (2) be free from the hiring party’s control or direction when performing such services; and (3) be customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, profession or business.

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The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) provides that it is unlawful "to discharge or in any other manner discriminate against any employee because such employee has filed any complaint ... under or related to this Act." 29 U.S.C. § 215(a)(3). The question before the U.S. Supreme Court today in Kasten v. Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Corp., 570 F.3d 834 (7th Cir.), reh’g denied, 585 F.3d 310 (7th Cir. 2009), cert. granted, 130 S.Ct. 1890 (2010), was whether “filed any complaint” includes making an internal oral complaint.

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The Department of Labor (DOL) recently released its Final Strategic Plan for the next five-year period. Although this document merely outlines the agency’s general goals, it does provide some insight as to what the agency deems most important and where it will focus its resources, enforcement efforts and regulatory activity in the upcoming years. The Plan is organized around five strategic goals. To learn more about this development, please continue reading at Littler's D.C. Employment Law Update blog.

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The United States Supreme Court recently declined to accept review of the decision in Sepulveda v. Allen Family Foods, Inc., a case in which the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals held that time spent donning and doffing protective gear at a unionized poultry processing plant constituted “changing clothes” within the meaning of Section 203(o) of the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq. (“FLSA”) and, thus, was not compensable time for which the employees must be paid. The former employee who filed the lawsuit in the first place and filed the petition before the Supreme Court presented the following question for review by the Supreme Court: “When calculating compensable time under the FLSA, does section 203(o)’s exclusion of ‘time spent in changing clothes’ apply to time spent donning and doffing protective equipment that is put on over unchanged clothes - a question on which multiple circuits have split.”

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Employers of unionized commercial truck drivers and unionized employers in the security services, construction and public utilities industries received some welcome relief from burdensome California meal period regulations with the recent enactment of Assembly Bill 569.

AB 569 was introduced by state representative for Riverside/San Bernardino District 63 Bill Emmerson in February of 2009. It was one of many bills attempting to deal with the complex thicket of regulation of meal and rest breaks, which has resulted in a deluge of class action litigation in California in recent years. Attempts to enact broader relief have not thus far succeeded. However, the current law was passed by the State Assembly by a 72-2 margin on May 21, 2009. It will go into effect on January 1, 2011 assuming it is not overturned or otherwise suspended pending judicial resolution of any challenge during a 90 day period following its enactment.

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