This post was authored by Stephanie J. Lowe and Brett A. Overby
Over the past two months, a series of hurricanes has caused devastation to the United States, Puerto Rico, and other regions. As a result, the National Disaster Medical …
Tag Archives: “Wage and Hour”
Summer Lovin’, Had Me A Look At The Recreational Establishment Exemption. Tell Me More, Tell Me More!
Posted in Wage and Hour
While Danny Zuko and Sandy may have had themselves a blast during those summer lovin’ months, this may be a good time for your agency to take a look at the FLSA “recreational establishment” exemption. This is a unique exemption …
California Supreme Court Decides Landmark Case on Mandated Rest Breaks
Posted in Employment
This blog post was authored by Jeffrey C. Freedman.
California law requires employers in most private businesses to allow employees to take breaks, or rest periods, of at least ten minutes for roughly each four hours of work. Can …
The Anticipation And Wait Is Over – The New FLSA Salary Basis Test Regulations Are Here!
Posted in FLSA
This post was authored by Jolina A. Abrena and Gage Dungy
On May 18, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued new regulations modifying the weekly salary and annual compensation threshold levels for white collar exemptions to FLSA overtime …
California’s New Schedule For Minimum Wage Increases – What It Means For Public Vs. Private Employers
Posted in Wage and Hour
This blog post was authored by David Urban.
As a result of a new law, California’s minimum wage will start increasing each year. This will change not only the floor amount affected employers must pay employees, but also which …
Santa Monica Enacts Local Minimum Wage and Sick Leave Ordinance
Posted in Wage and Hour
This blog post was authored by Christopher Frederick.
Minimum Wage provisions
The Santa Monica City Council recently passed a minimum wage and sick leave ordinance that will increase the minimum wage for all private sector employees working in the …
New California Equal Pay Act Will Tighten Exemptions for Employers in Gender Pay Disparity Claims
Posted in Wage and Hour
This blog post was authored by Michael Lehman.
Legislation has been in place in California for decades preventing disparity in wages between men and women for doing the same job. The primary statute, Labor Code section 1197.5, is expected …
Timekeeping for Telecommuters Under the FLSA
Posted in Wage and Hour This blog post was authored by Alex Polishuk.
In today’s technological world, a rising number of employees telecommute, e.g. work from home. Employers who allow non-exempt employees to telecommute must remain mindful of their obligation under the Fair Labor …
Beware! General Law Cities and Special Districts Must Comply with California Minimum Wage Laws for Employee Travel Time
Posted in Wage and Hour
This blog post was authored by Megan Lewis
Public agencies are exempt from most, but not all, California’s wage and hour laws. Generally, the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) governs public agencies’ wage and hour obligations. But general …
The Mendiola Decision: When Sleeping and Personal Time Is Still Part of an Employee’s Job
Posted in Wage and Hour
This blog post was authored by Steven Tang.
Public agencies are exempt from most requirements of the state Industrial Welfare Commission’s (IWC) wage orders, including provisions on daily overtime. However, the state minimum wage requirements in each of the …
What Does The Affordable Care Act Have To Do With Independent Contractors?
Posted in Wage and HourThis blog post was authored by Jennifer Rosner and Heather DeBlanc.
When we think of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”), we invariably think of health insurance. The ACA mandates that any employer with 50 or more full time equivalent …
“Going On Offense” Can Lead To Decertification of Class Action Lawsuits
Posted in Class/Collective Action, Wage and Hour
This blog post was authored by Geoffrey Sheldon.
The Los Angeles Police Department (“LAPD”) employs approximately 10,000 sworn police officers in eight ranks from Chief of Police down to Police Officer. These 10,000 officers work in various bureaus, areas, …
Are Your IT Employees Paid Correctly?
Posted in FLSA, Wage and HourThis blog post was authored by Emily Muscatell.
Public agencies are subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), a federal law that regulates payment of wages. Under FLSA certain employees are “exempt,” meaning they are not entitled to …
The Holidays Are a Good Time to Review Regular Rate of Pay Calculations
Posted in FLSA, Wage and Hour
With employees requesting time off for upcoming holidays and flu season beginning, employers should review holiday pay and sick leave buyback provisions to ensure compliance with the FLSA regular rate of pay requirements. The FLSA requires that an employee who …
Sonic-Calabasas, Inc. v. Moreno (Sonic II): California Supreme Court Retreats From Its Bright-Line Holding, Now Holds that Employees’ Waiver of Berman Hearing in Arbitration Agreement is not Per Se Impermissible
Posted in Wage and Hour
This blog post was authored by Hengameh S. Safaei
In a long-awaited and lengthy 104-page decision, the California Supreme Court in Sonic-Calabasas, Inc. v. Moreno (Sonic II) has retreated from its earlier holding in Sonic–Calabasas A, Inc. v. …
The Importance of Being Earnest in Classifying Employees Exempt From Overtime under the Administrative, Executive and Professional Exemptions
Posted in FLSA, Wage and Hour
This blog post was authored by Meredith Karasch
If you think your agency has classified exempt employees correctly, you may want to take a second look. Last month, we reported on the Department of Labor (“DOL”) audit that resulted in …
The Importance of Adopting the Section 7(k) Overtime Exemption in the Applicable Fire Protection or Law Enforcement MOU
Posted in FLSA, Wage and Hour
This blog post was authored by Leighton Davis
What is the Section 7(k) Exemption?
Unless an overtime exemption applies, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires employers to pay their employees overtime compensation for any work performed in excess of …
Common Pitfalls in Using 9/80 Schedules and How to Avoid Them
Posted in FLSA, Wage and Hour
Many public employers utilize 9/80 work schedules for non-exempt employees. A 9/80 work schedule is essentially a two-workweek schedule of eight 9-hour days, one 8-hour day, and one day off. However, once the 9/80 work schedule is implemented, there are …
Exempt Employees Taking Time Off–When Can an Employer Dock Pay? When Does an Employer Have to Pay?
Posted in FLSA, Wage and Hour
This blog post was authored by Emily Muscatell
Deciding how much to pay an exempt employee who is absent can be tricky. If an exempt employee has accrued leave, the employer may require the employee to use his or her …
Automatic Deduction Policies – How to Ensure They Comply with the FLSA
Posted in FLSA, Wage and Hour
This blog post was authored by Alison Kosinski
Many employers have chosen to implement “auto-deduct” policies, which automatically deduct a set amount of time each day or shift for an employee’s meal break. While the Department of Labor has …
Overtime Pay For Off-Duty Cell Phone Calls And Text Messages? Maybe!
Posted in FLSA, Litigation, Privacy, Wage and Hour
The cell phone, in particular the so-called “smartphones” (e.g. iPhones, Blackberrys, Android phones) are amazing. These devices allow us to be in contact no matter where we are on a 24/7 basis. Some employers issue these devices to their employees …
From NBOA To NAIS Conference – LCW’s Update From The East Coast
Posted in Conferences, Disability, Layoffs, Liebert Cassidy WhitmoreThis guest post was authored by Cynthia Weldon, Liebert Cassidy Whitmore
Thank you to the organizers and attendees of the annual NBOA Symposium which ended Wednesday, February 23, in Washington D.C. It was gratifying to see so many schools represented …