FLSA

The Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced publication of the Dual Jobs final rule. This rule finalizes the DOL’s proposal to withdraw one portion of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) tip rule that was finalized in 2020. Employers who employ workers engaged in tipped work, like servers and bartenders, need to consider how this rule impacts their operations and tipped employee pay.… Continue Reading

On September 23, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published a final rule announcing when it will assess civil money penalties (CMPs) against employers who retain tips earned by their workers.  Under the rule, available here, the DOL may assess a penalty of up to $1,100 per violation each time it finds an employer retained employee tips, regardless of whether the violation is repeated or willful. … Continue Reading

In October 2020, Pennsylvania regulations took effect that increased the salary threshold for exempt employees to the federal level, and would have increased the threshold above the federal minimum beginning in October 2021.

However, a recent budget compromise between Democratic Governor Tom Wolf and a Republican-led state legislature has resulted in the regulations’ repeal.… Continue Reading

On June 21, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced that it will propose new regulations limiting the amount of time that tipped employees, like food servers or bartenders, can perform on non-tipped work before they would be owed a full minimum wage from their employer.  The public will have until August 23, 2021 to comment on the DOL’s proposed regulations. … Continue Reading

On May 6, 2021, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued a final rule, effective immediately, withdrawing a pro-business independent contractor rule that would have made it easier for businesses to classify workers as independent contractors, rather than as employees who are entitled to minimum wage and overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act. … Continue Reading

The United States Department of Labor (DOL) Wage and Hour Division just launched a new initiative called “Essential Workers, Essential Protections” that provides workers with information about the wage and hour laws that apply to them, including instructions on how to contact the DOL with questions or complaints.

In conjunction with this new initiative, the DOL released a set of FAQs regarding pay, hours worked, and job-protected leave during the pandemic.… Continue Reading

In another policy change that is designed to benefit workers and penalize businesses that violate the law, the federal government announced that employers who violate the overtime or minimum wage provisions of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) may be liable for both the unpaid wages and an additional equal amount as liquidated damages. … Continue Reading

On Tuesday, the Department of Labor (DOL) announced that it had issued two Notices of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) concerning tipped workers’ compensation. If adopted, the NPRM would delay, for a second time, the effective date of several rules the agency published during the Trump Administration. Though for now the move is merely a delay, it sets the stage for the Biden Administration to put its own presumably employee-friendly stamp on regulations concerning tipped workers’ wages and the practice of tip pooling in the near future.… Continue Reading

On March 2, 2021, the United States Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced that it is officially delaying the effective date of the rule titled “Independent Contractor Status under the Fair Labor Standards Act.” The effective date for the rule has now been delayed 60 days from March 8, 2021, to May 7, 2021.… Continue Reading

On February 19, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) withdrew two FLSA opinion letters, further signaling a return to more employee-friendly policies.

The first, FLSA2019-6, addressed the status of independent contractors for an unnamed virtual marketplace company (VMC) and took a more expansive view of independent contractors than the WHD’s approach during the Obama Administration.… Continue Reading