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

Courts are continuing to reject class and collective actions asserting claims against hospitals for automatic meal-break deductions. Most recently, in Camilotes v. Resurrection Health Care Corporation, a federal district court in Illinois decertified an FLSA collective action and denied certification of a state law class action asserting such claims. This case, and others like it that have denied certification or granted decertification in automatic meal-break deduction cases, provide guidance on steps that healthcare employers can take to reduce the risk of class actions in these types of cases. To learn more about the decision, please continue reading at Littler's Healthcare Employment Counsel.

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By Milton Castro and Jeremy Stewart

On February 22, 2011, the Illinois Department of Labor issued emergency rules to more swiftly implement and enforce the legislature’s amendment to the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act (IWPCA or the “Act”) that went into effect on January 1, 2011. The amendment modified the Act by: (1) clarifying an employee’s right to pursue a private right of action; (2) providing a new administrative forum for claims under $3,000; (3) imposing enhanced civil and criminal penalties; and (4) expanding employees’ protection from retaliation. With the emergency rules now in place, the Act has been further modified in some of the following ways:

• The Department has reconfirmed that administrative, executive, and professional exemptions to the Act’s overtime requirements shall be determined based on the regulations to Fair Labor Standards Act as they existed prior to the 2004 amendments;
• The Act now specifically prohibits employers from requiring employees to enroll in a direct deposit arrangement.
• Rather than just keep records for each employee, employers must make and maintain records to include particular information about employees’ hours worked, pay, vacation days earned, etc.
• Claimants now have 1 year to file a wage claim (extended from 180 days) from the time their wages or final compensation are due. Employers are likewise allowed 15 days rather than 10 to respond to a wage claim.

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On July 30, 2010, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed Senate Bill 3568, the most extensive change to the state’s wage theft statute in decades. The amendment to the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act, which goes into effect on January 1, 2011, focuses on the following:

• Broader coverage;
• Efficient enforcement mechanisms;
• Enhanced civil and criminal penalties; and
• Increased protection from retaliation.
   

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The Nevada Labor Commissioner announced that, effective July 1, 2010, Nevada’s minimum wage increased as follows:

• Employers not offering qualifying health insurance benefits must pay employees a minimum wage rate of $8.25 per hour (up from $7.55 per hour).
• Employers offering qualifying health insurance benefits must pay employees a minimum wage rate of at least $7.25 per hour (increased from $6.55 per hour).

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In Collins v. Heritage Wine Cellars Ltd. (7th Cir., No. 09-1181, Dec. 21, 2009), the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals analyzed the extent to which drivers who delivered wine exclusively within the State of Illinois were engaged in interstate commerce and, therefore, not entitled to overtime under the Motor Carrier Act exemption to the Fair Labor Standards Act. Specifically, this exemption from overtime applies to employees of a motor carrier if “property ... [is] transported by [the] motor carrier between a place in a State and a place in another State,” provided the employees “engage in activities of a character directly affecting the safety of operation of motor vehicles in the transportation on the public highways of passengers or property in interstate or foreign commerce within the meaning of the Motor Carrier Act.” As the court noted, “[t]he shipment itself must be in some sense interstate commerce (transportation between a place in a state and a place in another state).”

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In a recent opinion, a federal trial court in Illinois clarified that an employee can voluntarily waive the right to bring (or participate in) a class or collective action.  Brown v. Sears Holding Mgmt Corp., 09-C-2203 (N.D. Ill. Aug. 17, 2009).  The court also recognized that employees can waive legal rights arising under common law for non-payment of wages (an issue that was not disputed in the case).

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The federal minimum wage is set to increase to $7.25 on July 24, 2009. Additionally, 23 states will also increase the minimum wage for employers subject to state wage and hour laws. The majority of these increases take effect on July 24, 2009, but three states raise their minimum wage effective July 1, 2009.

In addition to noting the wage increase, employers should ensure that they are properly displaying a copy of the state’s current minimum wage poster in a conspicuous location in the workplace that notes the wage increase, even if the increase will not affect hourly employees at any particular workplace.

The following states have increased their state minimum wage:

Delaware
• $7.25/hr. effective 7/24/09

District of Columbia
• $8.25/hr. effective 7/24/09

Federal
• $7.25/hr. effective 7/24/09

Florida
• $7.25/hr. effective 7/24/2009

Idaho
• $7.25/hr. effective 7/24/09

Illinois
• $8.00/hr. effective 7/1/09

Indiana
• $7.25/hr. effective 7/24/09

Kentucky
• $7.25/hr. effective 7/1/09

Maryland
• $7.25/hr. effective 7/24/09

Missouri
• $7.25/hr. effective 7/24/09

Montana
• $7.25/hr. effective 7/24/09

Nebraska
• $7.25/hr. effective 7/24/09

Nevada
• If health benefits are available:
Effective 7/1/09 $6.55/hr (employers subject to the FLSA should see federal requirements)
• If the employer does not provide qualified health benefits:
Effective 7/1/09 $7.55/hr

New Jersey
• $7.25/hr. effective 7/24/09

New York
• $7.25/hr. effective 7/24/2009

North Carolina
• $7.25/hr. effective 7/24/09

North Dakota
• $7.25/hr. effective 7/24/09

Oklahoma
• $7.25/hr. effective 7/24/09

Pennsylvania
• $7.25/hr. (large employers) effective 7/24/09
• $7.25/hr. (small employers) effective 7/24/09

South Dakota
• $7.25/hr. effective 7/24/09

Texas
• $7.25/hr. effective 7/24/09

Utah
• $7.25/hr. effective 7/24/09

Virginia
• $7.25/hr. effective 7/24/09

Wisconsin
• $7.25/hr effective 7/24/09
 

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