Wage & Hour

Expert Analysis

• DOL's Contractor Rule Change May Cause Cos. Heartburn

  

  The U.S. Department of Labor proposed a new rule earlier this week that would narrow the conditions under which a worker could be an independent contractor, and the new recipe for status determination may cause serious indigestion for companies doing business with them, says Todd Lebowitz at BakerHostetler.

• A Look At Recent Service Contract Act Compliance Challenges

  

  Complying with the Service Contract Act and potential U.S. Department of Labor audits have grown tougher due to the rise of remote work and increasing inflation, but certain best practices can help manage compliance risks, say Eric Leonard and Craig Smith at Wiley.

• Worker Misclassification Poses Large Perils For NJ Cos.

  

  Considering the New Jersey Legislature’s and governor’s recent focus on worker misclassification — as well as the state supreme court’s recent interpretation of the so-called ABC test — the dangers of noncompliance for businesses that use independent contractors cannot be understated, say Brent Bouma and Peter Shapiro at Lewis Brisbois.

• All Employers Must Heed Md. Paid Commuting Time Ruling

  

  The Maryland Court of Appeals’ recent ruling that federal pay carveouts for preliminary work don't apply to state wage laws is a wake-up call for employers nationwide, who should proactively review their employees' pre- and post-shift activities, analyze state laws, and take steps to avoid liability, say Kirsten Eriksson and Elisabeth Hall at Miles & Stockbridge.

• Why FLSA Settlement Reviews May Be Increasingly Unneeded

  

  While most federal courts have followed the Eleventh Circuit's 1982 holding in Lynn's Food v. U.S. that Fair Labor Standards Act claims may be settled only with approval by a court or the U.S. Department of Labor, more courts are beginning to question — or outright challenge — that obligation, say attorneys at Jackson Lewis.

• Key Takeaways From Calif.'s Sweeping Fast-Food Wage Law

  

  California Gov. Gavin Newsom recently signed a controversial wage bill that will have a major impact on fast-food employers and employees, will likely shape how the state regulates other industries in the future, and represents a radical step toward sectoral bargaining, says Pooja Nair at Ervin Cohen.

• Forecasting A Rise In 11th Circ. State Court Class Actions

  

  Two recent opinions from the Eleventh Circuit have created an unusual landscape that may result in a substantial increase of class action litigation in state courts, particularly in Florida, that will be unable to utilize removal tools such as the Class Action Fairness Act, says Alec Schultz at Hilgers Graben.

• Key Employer Takeaways From DOJ's Poultry Antitrust Case

  

  The U.S. Department of Justice’s settlement with three major U.S. poultry processors for allegedly conspiring to fix employee wages and benefits may signal an uptick in antitrust violation investigations and serves as a reminder to companies of the risks they face when managing employee personal data, say attorneys at Akin Gump.

• Recent Employer Lessons On Facing Calif. Labor Hearings

  

  A California state appeals court in Elsie Seviour-Iloff v. LaPaille recently set forth multiple important holdings expanding the potential relief available to employees pursuing administrative relief for wage claims with the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, and they offer crucial takeaways for employers, says Tyler Bernstein at Sheppard Mullin.

• Poultry Sector Wage-Fixing Case Shows Info Exchange Risks

  

  The nearly $85 million settlement of a U.S. Department of Justice case accusing Cargill and other poultry processors of conspiring to suppress worker pay should prod employers and trade groups to scrutinize all exchanges of potentially competitive sensitive information for compliance with labor market antitrust rules, say attorneys at Mintz.

• Beware Employee Tracking As A Response To 'Quiet Quitting'

  

  "Quiet quitting" — a recent trend that encourages a bare-minimum work ethic — may prompt employers to electronically monitor worker productivity, but this response raises concerns about discrimination, employee classification, labor law compliance, overtime pay and workplace morale, says Chris Deubert at Constangy Brooks.

• 9th Circ. Class Cert. Move Illustrates Individual Claim Issues

  

  The Ninth Circuit's recent class certification decision in Bowerman v. Field Asset Services illustrates the challenges presented when a defendant argues that not all putative class members have been injured or that damages must be determined on a claimant-by-claimant basis, says Robert Fuller at Robinson Bradshaw.

• What Proposed Contractor Rule May Mean For Wage Litigation

  

  The Biden administration's proposed independent contractor rule could have major implications for wage and hour litigation, but comparing it to the Trump administration's rule could help employers prepare for the next phase of employee classification disputes, say Jessica Scott and Frederick Yarger at Wheeler Trigg.