On July 23, 2010, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division issued “Fact Sheet #73: Break Time for Nursing Mothers under the FLSA.” The fact sheet provides general information on the break time requirement for nursing mothers in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“PPACA”), which took effect when the PPACA was ... Read more
Employers often ask the question, “If I have a rule prohibiting employees from working overtime, can I refuse to pay them for the unauthorized work?” Read more
Much attention has been focused on the proposed Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, upon which the Senate is expected to vote this week. However, some provisions lurking within the bill’s 2,319 pages have yet to be discussed. One item of interest to employers is Section 342, which mandates that an Office of Minority and ... Read more
Today CNN.com includes an article entitled “Why Do Employers Care About Your Credit”by Rachel Ferrell of CareerBuilder.com. It includes interesting information about the continued increase in the use of credit reports for employment purposes. Ferrell reports that “Sixty percent of employers recently surveyed by the Society of Human Resource Management said they run credit checks on all or some ... Read more
While this week’s head-turning decision by the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in In Re Novartis Wage & Hour Litigation has required employers who classify sales employees as exempt to take a second look, it is simply the most recent in a series of events demonstrating a trend toward much tougher scrutiny of ... Read more
The implementation of the Federal Trade Commission’s Red Flags Rule has been watched carefully by covered “financial institutions” and “creditors.” However, a small portion of the Rule also applies to employers, who need to be aware of their obligations in the event that they receive notice of a Red Flag. This post is a ... Read more
On May 20, 2010, the Department of Labor’s Office of Labor-Management Standards finalized a regulation requiring certain employers to post a notice advising employees of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act to join, form and support labor unions and bargain collectively with their employers. This regulation implements President Obama’s Executive Order 13496. The effective ... Read more
In the second of its new series of Administrator’s Interpretations, the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor yesterday reversed its prior opinion on the meaning of “clothes.” More specifically, it was announced that time spent at the beginning and end of the workday putting on and taking off (“donning and doffing”) protective ... Read more
In a remarkable decision expanding a statute with which employers are very familiar, the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia filed a decision on Friday finding that an insurer may be subject to discrimination claims under the West Virginia Human Rights in connection with the settlement of a property damage claim. The case is Michael ... Read more
For employers who struggle with real or perceived abuse by employees of the generous provisions of the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) relating to intermittent leave, there seem to be few effective ways to respond. Unless and until revisions to the FMLA are made (not likely), the very small minority of employees who are inclined ... Read more