With the change in administration, the Department of Labor’s recently-issued Final Rule governing the treatment of tipped employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act was thrown into doubt. Following a formal delay of the Final Rule’s effective date of March 30, 2021, the Biden DOL has now announced that parts of the Final Rule will take effect on April 30, 2021, while other parts will be further delayed and revised, subject to public comment.
Continue Reading The DOL’s Tipped Employee Final Rule: What Is Taking Effect and What Is Not
Wait – the DOL Made Their FFCRA Guidance LESS Useful?!!
I don’t like it when the federal agencies don’t play fair. I previously blogged about the EEOC’s sneaky change in its position on whether sexual orientation discrimination is covered by Title VII (it revised its guidance without any kind of announcement. It was just suddenly… the exact opposite). And now, the Department of Labor has pulled the same trick with regard to it
s guidance on the Families First Coronavirus Response Act!
Continue Reading Wait – the DOL Made Their FFCRA Guidance LESS Useful?!!
U.S. Department of Labor Issues New Opinion Letters: Part Three – Rounding Hours
As promised, today we give you and third and final installment of our three-part series addressing the new opinion letters issued by the U.S. Department of Labor on July 1, 2019. To read about the other letters issued by the DOL, check out this blog post and this blog post. The final opinion letter, FLSA2019-9, addresses permissible rounding practices for calculating the number of hours worked by an employee.
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U.S. Department of Labor Issues New Opinion Letters: Part Two – Paralegals
In our last blog post, we revealed a three-part series intended to address the new opinion letters issued by the U.S. Department of Labor on July 1, 2019. The second of these opinion letters, FLSA2019-8, addresses whether paralegals employed by a trade organization are exempt from minimum wage and overtime requirements under Section 13(a)(1) of the FLSA – an issue of admittedly more limited interest, except as to employers of such individuals.
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U.S. Department of Labor Issues New Opinion Letters: A Three-Part Series (Part One – Bonuses and the Regular Rate)
On July 1, 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor issued three new opinion letters that address compliance issues related to the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). These letters are official, written opinions by the Department’s Wage and Hour Division that respond to fact-specific scenarios posed by employers and employees alike. We are going to address each of the opinion letters in separate blog posts over the course of the next week. But for now, let’s dive into the first of the three opinion letters!
Continue Reading U.S. Department of Labor Issues New Opinion Letters: A Three-Part Series (Part One – Bonuses and the Regular Rate)
DOL Provides Clarification on FLSA Tip Pooling Amendments
On April 9, 2018, the Department of Labor announced the issuance of a Field Assistance Bulletin clarifying the recent amendments to the tip pooling provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, which were incorporated in the omnibus budget bill that was passed by Congress on March 21, 2018. Additionally (but without fanfare), the DOL revised its Fact Sheet #15: “Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).” The Bulletin clarifies that employers who pay the full minimum wage to tipped employees may require their participation in tip pools that include workers who are not “customarily and regularly” tipped – an issue that had been subject to significant controversy.
Continue Reading DOL Provides Clarification on FLSA Tip Pooling Amendments