The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced on May 1, 2012, that in accordance with a settlement agreement, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has agreed to pay $4,828,442 in back wages and damages to more than 4,500 employees nationwide and $463,815 in civil money penalties for misclassifying employees and associated violations of the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the federal wage and hour law.
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case raising the issue of whether pharmaceutical sales representatives (“PSRs”) are exempt from the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in Smithkline Beecham Corp., held that the PSRs were exempt as outside salesmen, thereby creating a split with the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which had previously held in In re Novartis Wage & Hour Litigation that the outside sales exemption did not apply to PSRs.
It appears that BP’s woes are not limited to oil spills.
The Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor has announced the results of the first year of the agency’s multi-year enforcement initiative focusing on the gas station industry in New Jersey. During FY 2011 (the year ending on September 30, 2011), Wage-Hour conducted 74 investigations of gas station facilities throughout the state, recovering $1,014,895 in back wages for 295 workers. BP-branded stations accounted for 69 of the establishments investigated. Non-BP stations whose owners also had BP stations were found by Wage-Hour to have similar violations.
The Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced yesterday the winner of the “informAction app” challenge to “empower consumer choices about the hotel, motel, restaurant and retail industries.” The winning app, submitted by Rachel Moore, of Alexandria, VA, is called “Eat Shop Sleep.” It combines enforcement data from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and Wage and Hour Division (WHD) with consumer ratings web sites, such as Yelp and other tools, such as Google Maps.
The Department of Labor announced on Tuesday that Tulsa-based United States Beef Corp., doing business as Arby’s, has agreed to pay $56,838 in back wages to 759 current and former managers in Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma.
President Obama has withdrawn the nomination of Leon Rodriguez for the position of Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor. Rodriguez was the President’s second nominee for the top position in the Wage and Hour Division, a position that has remained vacant for the entire Obama Administration.
The California Supreme Court has ruled that employees who travel to California on business may be entitled to daily overtime compensation for work in excess of eight hours per day, as required by California law, even though they do not reside in California and California is not their normal place of work.
The Department of Labor launched its first application for smartphones yesterday. It’s a timesheet that enables employees to track the hours they work and determine the wages they are owed. At the moment, it’s compatible with only the iPhone and iPod Touch. Using the app, which is available in English and Spanish, employees can track their regular work hours, break time and any overtime hours for one or more employers. According to DOL, “This new technology is significant because, instead of relying on their employers’ records, workers now can keep their own records. This information could prove invaluable during a Wage and Hour Division investigation when an employer has failed to maintain accurate employment records.” The app has a link to the Wage and Hour Division’s website, and information about contacting Wage and Hour.
DOL’s foray into the world of smartphones underscores for employers the need to keep accurate records of the hours their employees work and to encourage their employees to speak to human resources personnel if they have questions about their pay.
Summer is almost here, and students will soon be adding to the ranks of the temporary work force. This is a good time for employers to make sure they know the rules about when they can legitimately treat a student as an unpaid intern, and when they must pay a student at least the minimum wage.
On April 5, 2011, the Department of Labor ("DOL") published final regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). In earlier postings, I discussed DOL’s interpretation of the method for calculating overtime for employees on a fluctuating workweek and requirements regarding tipped employees. The subject of today’s post is the DOL’s requirement regarding public sector employers’ granting of comp time.
On April 5, 2011, the Department of Labor ("DOL") published final regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). In an earlier posting, I discussed DOL’s interpretation of the method for calculating overtime for employees on a fluctuating workweek. The subject of today’s post is the treatment of tip pooling arrangements and tip credits under the new regulations.
On April 5, 2011, the Department of Labor ("DOL") published final regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA"). DOL states that the agency's purpose was to revise regulations that have become out of date because of subsequent legislation. DOL's pronouncement with regard to overtime calculations, however, was not based on a change in the law but, instead, on the current Administration's disagreement with the Bush Administration's proposal on how existing law should be interpreted.
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