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The U.S. Department of Labor will likely propose changes to its overtime regulations this spring, Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez told lawmakers March 18. President Obama last March instructed DOL to simplify its rules and raise its salary threshold defining which workers are exempt from overtime. To be considered exempt from the minimum wage […]
A staffing agency recently agreed to pay $1.25 million to settle a lawsuit alleging that it failed to pay its workers overtime. The employer argued that the engineers were exempt from overtime requirements because they were skilled and highly compensated — some made more than $100,000 per year — but nonetheless opted to settle the […]
Patricia Arquette won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress at this year’s Academy Awards, and people are still buzzing about her acceptance speech where she exclaimed: “It’s our time to have wage equality once and for all, and equal rights for women in the United States of America!” Arquette will be pleased to know that […]
A bill to restore parity between mass transit and qualified parking benefits will be introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., she announced Feb. 10. The limits, dictated by tax Code Section 132, have been unequal since that part of the tax Code was written, although Congress several times […]
The federal government lowered the rates used by employers to calculate how much to add to the taxable wages of employees who use a corporate jet for non-business use, for the first half of 2015. The rates — known as the standard industry fare level, or SIFL rates — get an inflation adjustment every six […]
by Paul J. Sweeney An amendment to New York’s Wage Theft Prevention Act (WTPA) removes a requirement that private-sector employers provide wage rate notices to current employees by February 1 of each year. The WTPA requires private-sector employers to provide written wage rate notices to employees and imposes penalties for noncompliance. Until the change was […]
Wage garnishments are regulated under the Consumer Credit Protection Act (CCPA). The CCPA limits how much of an employee’s wages may be garnished and provides other protections as well. Let’s take a look at these CCPA protections along with some guidance for employers that must carry out court-ordered garnishments on employee pay.
by Rodney Bean The West Virginia Division of Labor (DOL) has proposed emergency regulations that, if enforced in their present form, could force West Virginia employers to change by December 31 a number of common wage and hour practices that comply with long-standing federal regulations. Although the state DOL’s emergency rules purport to adopt vast […]
As a result of the attention surrounding the ongoing Ebola outbreak, many employers are wondering how to handle situations involving communicable disease. Not much medical testing of employees is allowed. If however, a pandemic is widespread and is a direct threat, public health authorities say employers can monitor closely for symptoms and illness. Employers can […]
The U.S. Supreme Court announced Oct. 6 that it would not review two Fair Labor Standards Act rulings. The cases dealt with misclassification and compensable working time. In the misclassification case, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held that the City of Los Angeles owed fire department dispatchers and paramedics assigned to air ambulance […]