The Laconic Law Blog

The current minimum wage is set at $5.85 per hour and increases to $6.55 per hour on July 24, 2008.

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In Sutherland v. SOS International, Judge Cacheris of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia denied the employer’s pre-trial motion for summary judgment related to the employee’s overtime claims under the FLSA and discriminatory discharge claim under USERRA due to the existence of factual disputes.  The denial of the employer’s pre-trial motion for summary judgment means that the case will proceed to a jury trial.  The case highlights some of the issues that trip up employers when defending these types of claims.

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The U.S. Department of Labor has posted a new Administrator-signed FLSA opinion letter regarding the application of the administrative exemption.  The opinion letter can be found here.  The position is question was a Product Technology Application and Marketing Analyst (PTA).  The letter concludes that the position is exempt.

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The WSJ Blog has an article today on whether after-hours Blackberry use is the next wage and hour battleground.  The article is here. 

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The Massachusetts General Assembly has passed a bill mandating the award of treble damages as liquidated damages to prevailing plaintiffs in wage lawsuits in the state.  The law does not require a finding of willfulness or bad faith in order to recover liquidated damages.  The text of the bill is here.  It has been presented to the Governor for signature.

An article in HR Magazine this month (SHRM membership required to access) entitled “Guard Against FLSA Claims:  Fair Labor Standards Act lawsuits are increasing.  Are your classifications in order?” reminds us of the need for employers to be proactive about FLSA issues.  The US has seen a dramatic increase in FLSA lawsuits in recent years.  Here is an article in Fortune Small Business article called “Overtime Pay:  A ticking time bomb.”  We previously commented on the low threshold for certification of a collective action by a court here.  Overtime lawsuits are here to stay and ignoring the problem will not make them go away.

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In an ironic twist, an arbitrator has ruled that the EEOC systematically violated the FLSA by misclassifying investigators and mediators as exempt from overtime compensation.  The Manpower Employment Law Blawg has the story here.

The Department of Labor has issued several new opinion letters related to the Fair Labor Standards Act.  The Administrator signed letters (FLSA2008-1 and FLSA2008-2) can be found here.  The non-Administrator signed letter (FLSA-2008-5NA) can be found here.

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Following up on yesterday’s post on new H1-B rules, I noticed a press release from the Department of Labor announcing that it had charged a New York medical staffing company with multiple violations of the Immigration and Nationality Act relating to H1-B visas after it completed a wage/hour investigation of the company that had resulted in a finding of $3 million in back pay liability.

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A California judge, in a four paragraph order, has ruled that Starbuck’s violated California law by sharing tips with supervisors.   The $106 million award includes $19 million in interest.  The court also entered an injunction barring Starbuck’s supervisors from sharing employee tips in the future.

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In a published decision today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed an arbitration award in an FLSA class action.  The case is interesting because of the implications for employers using mandatory arbitration agreements.

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CNNMoney.com has an article today on “Overtime pay:  A ticking time bomb.”  It is worth reading as a reminder that overtime compliance is very important, not necessarily simple, and a favorite target of plaintiff’s lawyers.

(Hat tip to California Labor & Employment Defense Blog.)

The U.S. Department of Labor announced December 10, 2007, that CVS Pharmacy, Inc. will pay $226,598 in civil penalties and $38,151 in back wages in connection with the settlement of an FLSA investigation into wage and youth employment violations.

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Staples, Inc. announced a $38 million settlement of a wage and hour class action in California involving 1,700 assistant managers who were allegedly misclassified as exempt from overtime pay.  The company had previously estimated the potential liability in the case in SEC filings as up to $150 million.  The settlement is subject to court approval.

(h/t Wage Law for the initial read on this story)

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) publicly released several Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) opinion letters today.  The two most interesting letters deal with cattle industry Field Inspectors and court reporters.

 In the first letter, the DOL found that because a cattle industry Field Inspector generally spent the majority of his time managing his assigned district and supervising staff (and was paid on a salary basis over the minimum amount), he met the requirements of section 541.100(a) 2-4 and was therefore exempt from overtime compensation under the FLSA.  The DOL distinguished the Field Inspectors in question from those excluded from the FLSA exemptions by section 541.3(b)(2) because their primary duty is management of a customarily recognized department, not duties related to investigations (although they do participate in investigations as part of their job duties).

In the second letter, the DOL opined that a court reporter does not qualify as an exempt employee under the FLSA.  The court reporter did not qualify for the executive exemption because she did not regularly supervisor two or more employees.  She also did not qualify for the administrative exemption because she did not exercise discretion and independent judgment; rather, she performed manual transcription work.  Further, because the court reporter required completion of only a court reporting course and state certification, and not an advanced academic degree, she did not qualify for the professional exemption.

Both are worth reading for a quick refresher course on FLSA overtime exemptions.