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A multi-year investigation by the United States Department of Labor into violations of wage and hour laws by New Jersey gas stations has found “consistent and widespread noncompliance,” according to agency officials. The investment action recovered more than $1 million in back wages for 295 workers. In an agency statement, DOL Secretary Hilda L. Solis […]
The Supreme Court today agreed to hear a Fair Labor Standards Act case to decide if drug company reps should qualify for the outside sales exemption. Specifically, Christopher v. SmithKline Beecham Corp. is about whether pharmaceutical sales reps working more than 40 hours in a week are eligible for overtime under the FLSA. A key question […]
For more than 70 years, the Fair Labor Standards Act has allowed employers to pay some workers with physical or mental impairments less than the federal minimum wage. H.R. 3086, introduced by Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.), Tim Bishop (D-N.Y.) and Gregg Harper (R-Mo.) earlier this fall, would change that. HR 3086 would phase out special wage […]
Federal investigators fined an Arkansas farm $8,000 for illegally hiring a 10-year old to pick blueberries and for other wage and hour violations . The Labor Department also has recovered $1,160 in back wages for four of the farm’s workers. “The laws and regulations for vulnerable young workers are very specific, and employers in violation […]
It’s a sobering realization, says attorney Kara Shea, that DOL statistics show 73 percent of its investigations result in findings of violations, but you can push the odds in your favor. Shea, who is a member of Nashville-based law firm Miller & Martin PLLC, made her remarks at BLR’s Advanced Employment Issues Symposium, held recently […]
Huddle House, Inc. has agreed to pay more than $60,000 to 128 employees and to step up compliance with wage and hour laws. In addition, Labor Department officials assessed $48,317 in civil money penalties for repeat and child labor violations. The Labor’s wage and hour investigations were initiated under a multiyear enforcement initiative focused on […]
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is focusing “an enormous amount of attention” on misclassifying workers as exempt, non-exempt, and independent contractors and is throwing significant resources at the problem, according to attorney Susan G. Fentin, who spoke at the recent Advanced Employment Issues Symposium in Nashville, Tennessee. Plus, the DOL and the IRS are […]
Employers have until Dec. 1 to comment on the (DOL)’s proposed child labor regulations for the agricultural sector. That’s one month longer than the original deadline of Nov. 1. The extension was published in the Federal Register Oct. 31. Released Sept. 2, these are DOL’s first revisions to child farm labor rules in 40 years. […]
A Hilton subsidiary has agreed to pay more than $715,000 in back wages to 2,645 workers in four states. The agreement comes in the wake of a Labor Department investigation into the handling of payment for work done before the start of a shift. Nonpayment of pre-shift work at heart of DOL investigation Hilton “profited […]
Teresa Murphy and David Wudyka have some ideas about how to make those conversations go a little better. Murphy is the principal consultant for HR Partner Advantage, an HR advisory firm based in Raleigh, N.C. Wudyka, SPHR, MBA, BSIE, is the founder and managing principal of Westminster Associates, a Massachusetts-based human resource and compensation firm. […]