Tag Archives: Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
DOL Proposed OT Rule – FLSA Exemption Salary Threshold Increases to $35K
After a long wait, the US Department of Labor yesterday issued its proposed overtime rule raising the salary basis threshold for exempt employees from $23,660 to $35,308 per year or to $679 per week. Employers with employees classified as exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) “white collar” exemptions should take note.
So You Think You’ve Got Independent Contractors? Well, Think Again
Virginia law requires most employers to carry workers’ compensation insurance in order to provide specific benefits to workers injured during the course of their work and to provide employers with protection from civil suits for those work-related injuries. Generally, an employer with more than three employees is required to carry workers’ compensation coverage. However, in the last decade especially, employers have more frequently misclassified employees as independent contractors in an effort to keep the number of employees below three and to avoid purchasing workers’ compensation coverage.
SCOTUS Update: DOL Rule Reversal to Impact “Narrowly Construed” FLSA Class Exemptions
In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled on Monday that automobile service advisors are exempt from the overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act. While the decision would appear to apply only to a narrow class of employers (automobile dealers), the majority opinion rejected the principle that exemptions to the FLSA should be construed narrowly, which has the potential for much broader impact. Encino Motorcars v Navarro involved an exemption under the FLSA which provides that that statute’s overtime-pay requirement does not apply to “any salesman, partsman, or mechanic primarily engaged in selling or servicing automobiles . . …
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$47,476 Exempt Salary Level Struck Down
Yesterday, a Texas Federal Judge invalidated the Obama era’s overtime Final Rule which attempted to raise the salary level threshold required to qualify for the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) “white collar” exemptions to $47,476 per year. The last year has been a rollercoaster ride for employers working to comply with the proposed doubling of the salary level and to manage labor costs. For now, the salary basis for “white collar” exemption will remain $455 per week — or $23,660 per year. “The department has exceeded its authority and gone too far with the final rule,” Judge Mazzant said. “Because …
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Employee Misclassification in the Entertainment Industry
Employee misclassification is one of the leading labor abuses in the country. In fact, in recent years, both the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Department of Labor have launched a misclassification initiative to combat this pervasive issue. Misclassification runs rampant in the entertainment industry, where terms like “low pay/no pay”, “copy, credit, meals”, and “deferred payment” get thrown around freely in order to meet budget. With the ease of access to affordable high quality recording equipment and editing software, the fast-growing independent market has only added to the I.R.S. and U.S. Department of Labor’s frustrations in this regard. The …
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Gimme a W! Gimme an A! Gimme a G! Gimme an E! What’s that Spell?!? . .
NFL cheerleaders are one of the more recent groups to Bring It On! in the form of wage and hour litigation for the alleged failure of their teams to pay them a minimum wage. In fact, to date, cheerleaders from five NFL teams have filed lawsuits against their respective teams alleging that they were not paid a legal wage for the time spent rehearsing, performing, and appearing at events. These spirit spreaders allege that they received little – and, in some cases, no – compensation for their heavy pompon lifting. The litigating squads include the Raiderettes, the Ben-Gals, the Tampa …
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