Womble Employment Law Blog

As businesses move closer to planning their 2020 fiscal year budgets and considering pay increases, they should keep in mind that proposed overtime regulations are nearing final publication by the U.S. Department of Labor.  The new regulations will impact the so-called "white collar" overtime exemptions for executive, administrative, professional, and highly compensated employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA").  If the regulations become final in 2020 as expected, they will increase the minimum compensation levels required for those workers to be classified as exempt from overtime. Workers who do not meet the higher compensation levels cannot be classified as exempt from overtime under the FLSA.  So, the new regulations may result in the need for businesses to give pay increases to some workers to keep their overtime exemptions in place, or otherwise prepare to pay overtime to workers who no longer meet the minimum compensation levels. The new regul...

Updated, September 19, 2017:  The 2016 "white collar" regulations were struck down in federal court, and never became effective. On July 6, 2015, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued proposed new regulations that will significantly change the law governing certain “white collar” workers who are exempt from minimum wage and overtime pay.   All employers need to become familiar with these proposed rules, which may, if they become final, greatly impact wages and overtime pay to workers.   In addition, for those that want to have their voices heard, there is still time (until September 4, 2015) for the public to make formal comments to the DOL. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), which is the federal wage and hour law, some employees may be classified as “exempt” from the Act’s minimum wage and overtime pay requirements.    The most well-known and commonly used exemptions are the so-called “white collar” exemptions applicable to executive...

On Wednesday, July 15, 2015, the United States Department of Labor released guidance addressing the misclassification of employees as independent contractors.   The guidance, an “Administrator’s Interpretation” issued by Wage and Hour Division Administrator David Weil, states that most workers are employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”).   Aimed at “curtailing misclassification,” the guidance states that employees misclassified as independent contractors “may not receive important workplace protections such as the minimum wage, overtime compensation, unemployment insurance, and workers’ compensation.”   The guidance emphasizes that the FLSA’s definition of employ as “to suffer or permit to work” was designed to ensure broad coverage such that most workers are employees who are entitled to the protections of the Act.   Courts use a multi-factor “economic realities” test to determine whether a worker is in business for himself or herself, and th...

Right now, many organizations are getting ready for a new class of interns to arrive in May when schools and colleges finish for the summer.   With fully laudable intentions, many organizations offer summer internships as a chance to allow students to get their feet wet in a business or industry, fully recognizing that the students’ contributions and added value, if any, are not that great. Experience teaches that many organizations do not pay interns.   However, this is often a risky proposition.   Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the legal standard to qualify as an unpaid internship is actually quite high.   The consequence of failing to meet that legal standard—and in our experience many may not—is that the “intern” is deemed to be a misclassified employee, and would be entitled to be paid minimum wage and overtime for all of the hours worked as an unpaid intern.   This exposure, including liquidated damages and potential penalties and attorneys’ fees...

The DOL's highly anticipated proposed rule to amend the FLSA exemptions for administrative, executive, and professional employees is reportedly coming in February 2015.  For more details, check out our post on Womble's Fair Labor Standards Act Law Blog, which you can find here .