Apparently inspired by the tidying up trend, the Department of Labor threw out two sections of its interpretation concerning the commission sales exemption from overtime that no longer gave it joy.  The commission sales exemption covers sales employees who are primarily paid by commission.  To come under the exemption, the employee must be employed in a “retail or service” establishment, must earn at least 1.5 times the minimum wage, and more than half the employee’s compensation for a representative period (not less than one month) must represent commissions.
Continue Reading DOL Streamlines Its Regulation Interpreting Commission Sales Exemption from Overtime

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act mandates that private employers with 500 or fewer employees (with exceptions for certain small employers as well as health care providers and emergency responders) and some public sector employers must provide emergency paid sick leave and emergency Family and Medical Leave Act leave for specific COVID-related reasons. The Act, however, did not address what documentation, if any, an employer could request in order to substantiate the leave and receive the tax credits that will fund the leave. The DOL initially provided guidance in its Families First Coronavirus Response Act: Questions and Answers, but subsequently retracted it, directing employers to the Internal Revenue Service for further guidance. And on the eve of the FFCRA’s effective date of April 1, 2020, the IRS finally provided such guidance.
Continue Reading IRS Identifies What Documentation Can Be Required by Employers for FFCRA Leave, and Much More on Tax Credits

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 its guidance on the Families First Coronavirus Response Act!
Continue Reading Wait – the DOL Made Their FFCRA Guidance LESS Useful?!!

The Department of Labor has issued its Final Rule explaining when separate companies will be deemed joint employers of a single employee under the Fair Labor Standards Act. In so doing, the DOL has made findings of joint employer status to be less likely, including in franchise situations.
Continue Reading DOL Issues Final Joint Employer Rule, Making Such Findings Less Likely

As of January 1, 2020, employers need to ensure that employees classified as “exempt” from overtime requirements are being paid the required salary.  Pursuant to the U.S. Department of Labor’s final rule, the minimum salary for executive, professional, and administrative employees has increased.  As we reported in our September 24, 2019 E-Lert, the new rule increases the salary required to meet the exemptions to $684 per week (the equivalent of $35,568 per year).  The required compensation for highly compensated employees is raised to $107,432.  Our E-Lert provides further details about the new rule.  If you need assistance determining whether your employees meet the exemptions under the Fair Labor Standards Act, please contact any Shawe Rosenthal attorney.
Continue Reading Changes to Wage and Hour Law Took Effect January 1, 2020

On December 12, 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced a revised interpretation listing payments that can be excluded from the “regular rate” used to compute overtime pay for non-exempt employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The DOL also issued a Fact Sheet and Highlights on this revised interpretation.

Continue Reading Department Of Labor Issues Final Rule On Regular Rate Exclusions From Overtime Calculations

So last month, I blogged about my discovery that the Maryland Code does not actually contain all the laws that have been passed, which caused me to wonder how we were supposed to comply with them. And now, I just learned that in D.C., some laws that are passed end up not being implemented after all! Wait – what?!
Continue Reading A Halloween Tale: Ghosted by Laws that Are Passed But Not Implemented!

The Department of Labor issued, on September 24, 2019, its final rule revising the salary requirements for exemption from the Fair Labor Standards Act’s mandate to pay overtime for hours worked over 40 in a workweek. The new rule increases the salary required to meet the executive, professional and administrative exemptions to $684 per week (the equivalent of $35,568 per year). The required compensation for highly compensated employees is raised to $107,432.
Continue Reading DOL Issues Final Overtime Rule, Increasing Required Salary Level for Exempt Employees

The National Labor Relations Board has now addressed the use of mandatory arbitration agreements following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2018 decision in Epic Systems v. Lewis, which upheld the enforceability of arbitration agreements containing waivers of the right to bring class or collective actions over employment-related disputes, rejecting the NLRB’s then-position that such waivers violate the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), as discussed in our prior E-lert.
Continue Reading NLRB Expands Scope of Mandatory Arbitration Agreements

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.
Continue Reading U.S. Department of Labor Issues New Opinion Letters: Part Three – Rounding Hours