Offering an employee additional time off in lieu of paying overtime wages is something that, for the most part, is currently limited to government employers. While some private sector employers mistakenly offer such a benefit, it is—with a few exceptions—something that is prohibited under the Fair Labor Standards Act. That could change in the near […]
Comp Time In Lieu of Overtime
Supreme Court Deals Blow to Ninth Circuit Power to Review EEOC Subpoena Orders
Yesterday, the Supreme Court held 7-1 that a federal appellate court may only conduct an abuse of discretion review of orders for enforcement of EEOC subpoenas. The case is McLane Co. Inc. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 581 U.S. — (2017). Because the Supreme Court reversed the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers almost […]
Do You Need Employment Practices Liability Insurance?
As employment related claims continue to rise, businesses must evaluate all available options to attempt to mitigate costs and risks associated with these claims. One common way to address these issues is to obtain an Employment Practices Liability Insurance policy, commonly referred to as EPLI. This post provides a brief overview of the purpose of […]
Is a 20% budget cut coming for the Department of Labor?
The White House Office of Management Budget has tendered its proposed budgets for various government agencies in 2018, which includes a proposed cut of $2.5 billion to the Department of Labor. That amount represents approximately 21% of the DOL’s annual budget, making it the third highest percentage reduction of any agency (trailing only the EPA and […]
ERISA 5500 Audits – Who Do They Protect?
By Marcy L. Rothman and Daniel Guerra – The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the Internal Revenue Code generally require employee benefit plans to file Form 5500 Annual Report/Report of Employee Benefit Plan. If a plan has more than 100 participants it is considered a “large” plan and the Form 5500 […]
Judge Blocks Overtime New Rules. So now what?
The stunning news: The new overtime regulations set to go into effect on December 1, 2016, are now on hold due to a Texas judge’s ruling yesterday November 22, 2016, barring implementation nationwide. How did we get here? So now what do employers do? In my little corner of the law, overtime has been a […]
What Trump’s Win Means For Employers
After pulling off a victory more surprising than Truman’s, Donald Trump will have the opportunity over the next four years to–among other things–change the landscape of employment law in the United States. With Republicans now controlling the House, Senate, and White House, there will undoubtedly be significant changes that will last well beyond Trump’s term. And […]
DOJ And FTC Issue Joint Guidelines For Human Resource Professionals
On October 20, 2016, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) (collectively the “Agencies”), who jointly enforce the antitrust laws, alerted human resource (“H.R.”) professionals that they might violate the antitrust laws by agreeing with competitors on the terms on which they will hire potential employees. The Guidelines are a reminder […]
Three Reasons You May Want Your Employees to Sign a Non-Compete
Not all employers need non-compete agreements. Jimmy John’s Sandwiches learned this the hard way, when some franchisees reportedly required sandwich makers or cashiers to sign non-compete agreements. These agreements kept cashiers or sandwich makers from working for any nearby business that obtained at least ten percent (10%) of its business from sandwich sales. Aside […]
Fifth Circuit holds bank overtime claims should be arbitrated, provides guidance on employer-friendly delegation clauses.
The Fifth Circuit’s October 4 decision in Reyna v. International Bank of Commerce, 2016 WL 5799283, has some valuable information for employers analyzing arbitration agreements with employees or facing Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) claims. In short: (1) if facing a FLSA class claim, consider moving quickly to enforce arbitration provisions before the class certification […]