Wage & Hour

  • August 26, 2024

    Tenn. County Strikes Deal To Exit Wage Suit Ahead Of Trial

    A Tennessee county alerted a federal court that it reached a settlement to stave off a trial slated to begin Monday in a suit accusing it of not properly paying a variety of workers within its sheriff's office.

  • August 26, 2024

    Gov't Contracting Policies To Watch In The 2nd Half Of 2024

    An overhaul to the U.S. Department of Defense's cybersecurity requirements and a pending rule requiring many contractors to report their greenhouse gas emissions headline a slate of significant policy initiatives for government contractors to watch for during the second half of this year. Here, Law360 previews four upcoming policy changes with significant potential impacts on government contractors.

  • August 23, 2024

    Dems Address Wage Theft, Paid Leave At Convention

    Democratic National Convention speakers in recent days spoke of wage and hour priorities including raising the federal minimum wage and establishing a national paid leave program, with even Vice President Kamala Harris mentioning fighting wage theft as part of her background.

  • August 23, 2024

    Attys' Fee Request 'Exorbitant' In Pay Bias Spat, NYC Says

    New York City urged a federal court Friday to reject attorneys' $8 million fee request for representing white fire protection inspectors who claimed they were subjected to the same racist pay disparities their nonwhite colleagues alleged they faced, saying it would divert too much money away from the workers.

  • August 23, 2024

    Ex-Reed Smith Atty Wants Pay Data In Bias Suit Against Firm

    A former Reed Smith LLP attorney suing the firm for gender discrimination has told a New Jersey state court that the firm must turn over pay data for nonequity partners stretching back years for her to make her case.

  • August 23, 2024

    Albertsons-Kroger Deal Tests FTC's Stepped-Up Merger Policy

    The Federal Trade Commission's highly anticipated hearing to block Albertsons' planned $24.6 billion merger with Kroger kicks off Monday in a Portland, Oregon, courtroom in what attorneys say will be a pivotal test of the Biden administration's newly formalized merger policy.

  • August 23, 2024

    5th Circ. Strikes Down DOL Tip Rule

    The Fifth Circuit struck down a U.S. Department of Labor rule on tipped wages, saying it goes against the Fair Labor Standards Act and is therefore arbitrary and capricious.

  • August 23, 2024

    Ga. Judge Denies FLSA Settlement Again Over Fee Proposal

    A Georgia federal judge has, for the second time, refused to sign off on a settlement that would've ended a suit between a corporate office furnisher and a fired employee, finding the plaintiff's counsel's proposed hourly rate for attorney fees "far exceeds" reasonableness.

  • August 23, 2024

    Construction Workers Want 5th Circ. Redo In Unpaid OT Suit

    A group of workers for a screw pile engineering company urged the full Fifth Circuit to rehear their case alleging they were unlawfully stiffed on overtime wages, saying a panel used the wrong standard when determining their duties fell under the Motor Carrier Act's overtime exemption.

  • August 23, 2024

    Hospital Deducted Bogus Meal Breaks From Wages, Suit Says

    A healthcare system automatically deducted 30 minutes per day from workers' wages for meal breaks despite the workers not getting the chance to take uninterrupted meal periods, a proposed collective action filed in Michigan federal court said.

  • August 23, 2024

    Calif. Forecast: Court To Weigh $4M Insurance Co. Wage Deal

    In the coming week, attorneys should watch for the potential final sign-off on a $4 million deal to resolve a wage and hour class action against Arthur J. Gallagher Service Co. LLC. Here's a look at that case and other labor and employment matters on deck in California.

  • August 22, 2024

    9th Circ. Revives Military Bias Claims Against Alaska Airlines

    The Ninth Circuit on Thursday revived a class action alleging Alaska Airlines illegally denied accrued vacation and sick time to pilots on military assignments, saying the case now has the benefit of a decision from the court in a similar case involving the airline.

  • August 22, 2024

    Calif. Panel Backs Arbitration Denial In Staffing Co. Wage Suit

    A California state appeals court refused to ship to arbitration a worker's lawsuit accusing a staffing agency of unlawfully miscalculating his sick leave wages, saying the arbitration pact he signed promised that all Private Attorneys General Act claims will be litigated in court.

  • August 22, 2024

    Hormel, Meat Plants To Settle Wage-Fixing Claims For $13.5M

    Hormel Foods Corp. and two meat processing plants have agreed to a $13.5 million settlement in a Colorado wage-fixing suit, joining a host of companies that have reached deals to end claims that they colluded to depress wages.

  • August 22, 2024

    Wis. Court Ditches 2-Step Certification For Collectives

    A metal finisher cannot snag collective certification in her wage suit under the Fifth Circuit's standard, a Wisconsin federal judge ruled, departing for the first time from the two-step method to certify collectives that courts have long used.

  • August 22, 2024

    4th Circ. Ruling Seen As Harbinger Of Remote Work Battles

    A Fourth Circuit opinion affirming that Maryland's wage laws don't extend to workers in Afghanistan who were hired by a Maryland company portends continued tricky legal challenges for employers managing a remote workforce, attorneys say.

  • August 22, 2024

    DOL, Pa. Mexican Restaurant Ink $88K Deal To End Wage Suit

    A Mexican restaurant with multiple locations in Pennsylvania will pay $88,000 in back wages, damages and fines to end a U.S. Department of Labor suit alleging it denied workers their full tips and wages, according to federal court papers filed Thursday.

  • August 22, 2024

    Mich. Says Justices' Minimum Wage Ruling Lacks Detail

    The state of Michigan is seeking clarification from its high court on how to calculate the new minimum wage, saying there were several possible interpretations of the court's recent directive to account for inflation in the wage floor. 

  • August 22, 2024

    IT Staffing Co. Can't Push Unpaid OT Suit Into Arbitration

    A California federal judge refused to send to arbitration a class action accusing a tech staffing company of underpaying recruiters by misclassifying them as overtime-exempt, saying the company's establishment of the arbitration pact two years into the litigation was misleading and unfair.

  • August 22, 2024

    Au Pair Co. Tells 1st Circ. Arbitration Bid Came In Time

    An au pair company told the First Circuit that forcing it to advance arbitration efforts before filing a response in a wage suit would conflict with a U.S. Supreme Court's ruling tackling the timing of arbitration requests.

  • August 22, 2024

    Pa. Welders, Attys Get Final OK On $970K Drive Time Deal

    A Pennsylvania state court gave final approval Thursday to a $970,000 settlement, including $355,000 in attorney fees, to resolve workers' claims that Great American Welding Co. owed them pay for the time they spent shuttling between satellite parking lots and Shell's petrochemical cracker plant in southwestern Pennsylvania.

  • August 22, 2024

    Philadelphia Police Dept. Withheld OT, Ranking Officers Say

    The Philadelphia Police Department failed to notify ranking officers that they were eligible to receive overtime pay for authorized emergency work, resulting in these employees losing out on thousands of hours' worth of compensation, a proposed class action filed in Pennsylvania federal court said.

  • August 21, 2024

    Recruiters Get Collective Cert. In Unpaid OT Suit

    A California federal judge greenlighted a collective of recruiters who said a payroll and human resources company cheated them out of overtime compensation, saying the workers who brought the case have successfully shown that the company's conduct applied across the board.

  • August 21, 2024

    Cleaning Co., H-2B Workers Seek Final OK For Wage Deal

    A group of 41 migrant housekeepers and a cleaning contractor asked a Colorado federal court Wednesday to give final approval to the $400,000 deal they reached to end claims of wage and visa law violations, including threats of deportation.

  • August 21, 2024

    Colo. Landscaping Co. Pays $133K For OT Violations

    A landscaping and snow removal company in Colorado paid nearly $133,000 in back wages and damages for denying 56 workers overtime rates, the U.S. Department of Labor announced Tuesday.

Expert Analysis

  • NYC Pay Transparency Law May Fail To Close Wage Gap

    Author Photo

    Peter Glennon at The Glennon Law Firm argues that New York City’s new pay transparency law, requiring employers to post salary information in job listings, creates a number of challenges for businesses, raising the question: Could encouraging the use of existing tools close the wage gap without the need for additional legislation?

  • How Day-Of-Rest Law Changes May Affect Ill. Employers

    Author Photo

    Recent amendments to Illinois' One Day Rest in Seven Act change meal break calculations and increase penalties for violations, so employers should review their meal, break and day of rest policies and consider conservative precautions to avoid accidental violations or litigation, says Darren Mungerson at Littler.

  • Understanding Georgia's New Worker Classification Law

    Author Photo

    A Georgia law taking effect next month amends the definition of employment for unemployment compensation purposes and may benefit certain technology companies, including ride-sharing and delivery services — as long as their independent contractor arrangements comply with the statute’s requirements, say Meredith Caiafa and Kelli Church at Morris Manning.

  • Justices' PAGA Ruling May Be Employer Win — With Caveats

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Viking River Cruises v. Moriana, holding that federal law partially preempts California's Private Attorneys General Act, may help employers send individual claims to arbitration, but key questions remain regarding statutory standing and the potential impact of another state law, says Joshua Henderson at Norton Rose.

  • Employers Must Think 3 Moves Ahead In Their Bid For Talent

    Author Photo

    Employers offering ever-increasing incentives to combat today’s labor shortage must not be nearsighted about tomorrow’s risk of recession, and should instead ask themselves three key questions about historical demand and future technology, say Adam Santucci and Langdon Ramsburg at McNees Wallace.

  • Supreme Court Should Review Flight Break Mandate

    Author Photo

    Despite government pushback, the U.S. Supreme Court should review Virgin America v. Bernstein, a Ninth Circuit decision that would require meal and rest breaks for flight attendants, as federal law and California regulations are in clear conflict and threaten to disrupt national air transportation, says Patricia Vercelli at Airlines for America.

  • Parsing The Impact Of White Collar FLSA Exemption Proposal

    Author Photo

    The Congressional Progressive Caucus recently proposed to increase the salary threshold at which a white collar worker isn't eligible for overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act, which would force reclassification of millions as hourly employees — especially in low-wage states — and would likely raise compliance costs for businesses, says Stephen Bronars at Edgeworth Economics.

  • Preparing For NYC's New Pay Transparency Law

    Author Photo

    Recent guidance postponing implementation of New York City’s Pay Transparency Law to Nov. 1 failed to clarify employers' obligation to act in good faith when advertising what they are willing to pay, so employers may want to devote resources to up-front evaluations of salary ranges, say John Litchfield and Paul King at Foley & Lardner.

  • FAA Ruling Raises Fresh Questions On Transportation Work

    Author Photo

    In Bissonnette v. LePage Bakeries, the Second Circuit's narrow view of the Federal Arbitration Act's transportation worker exemption leaves some ambiguity for delivery workers in the gig economy, which the U.S. Supreme Court will likely address in a future circuit split, says Jeff Shooman at FordHarrison.

  • Calif. Premium Pay Ruling May Raise Employer Liability Risks

    Author Photo

    After the California Supreme Court’s recent decision in Naranjo v. Spectrum Security Services, holding that premium pay for missed meal and rest breaks constitutes wages that must be reported on pay stubs, employers should revisit their meal and rest period policies to avoid a potential windfall of liability, say Jeremy Mittman and Gabriel Hemphill at Mitchell Silberberg.

  • Will Calif. High Court Take On PAGA Unmanageability?

    Author Photo

    Two diverging California state appeals court decisions — Wesson v. Staples and Estrada v. Royalty Carpet Mills — have set the stage for the California Supreme Court to determine the scope of trial court authority to dismiss Private Attorneys General Act claims on manageability grounds, but the burden may fall on trial courts if the high court denies review, say Harrison Thorne and Lowell Ritter at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Mass. Ruling Reduces Employers' Overtime Exposure Risks

    Author Photo

    A Massachusetts court's recent decision in Devaney v. Zucchini Gold, holding that employees whose overtime claims rest solely on the Fair Labor Standards Act cannot recover greater remedies under state law, reduces liability for employers in the state, and guides on overtime calculations and record-keeping duties, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Calif. 4-Day Workweek Proposal Would Fuel Employer Exodus

    Author Photo

    California's proposal to truncate the workweek would result in significant increases in employer costs and reduced hours for hourly employees, and would encourage companies to leave for other states, so lawmakers should instead reform the state's rigid wage and hour laws for greater work schedule flexibility, say Julia Trankiem and Timothy Kim at Hunton.