Featured Articles

Vermont Employers Now Permitted to Pay Wages by Payroll Debit Card

June 14, 2010 17:39

As of May 21, 2010, Vermont joins a growing number of states who now allow employers to pay employee wages with payroll debit cards. The new law, Act 115 (S.58), amends Vermont State Code §§ 342 and 343 to permit an employer to credit an employee’s wages to a “payroll card...

Recent Articles

New Jersey Restores Its Exemption for Commissioned Sales Employees

March 09, 2012 19:19

By Jeanne Barber As we reported earlier, the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (DLWD)amended its wage and hour regulations in September 2011 to eliminate inconsistencies between state and federal overtime law. In so doing, the DLWD inadvertently omitted the exemption for...

U.S. Department of Labor Releases Bulletin on Tip Credit Regulations

March 06, 2012 22:33

According to a recently-released Field Assistance Bulletin, the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) has advised its staff to uniformly enforce a rule that became effective on May 5, 2011 governing ownership of employee tips under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). In many...

Massachusetts Court Permits No-Tipping Policy

February 28, 2012 23:59

By Chris Kaczmarek In a case of first impression, a Massachusetts Superior Court judge recently held that an employer may adopt a policy prohibiting employees from accepting tips from customers without violating the Massachusetts Tips Law. Any such policy, however, must clearly and...

The Fourth Circuit Holds that Intra-Company Complaints Are Protected Activity Under the FLSA's Anti-Retaliation Provision

February 13, 2012 18:22

By Martha Keon The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) provides that an employer may not: “discharge or in any other manner discriminate against any employee because such employee has filed any complaint or instituted or caused to be instituted any proceeding under or related to [the Act], or has...

AutoZone Store Managers Found to Be Exempt Executive Employees

February 13, 2012 18:01

By Laurent Badoux On January 27, 2012, the United States District Court for the District of Arizona granted AutoZone’s motion for summary judgment in a case brought on behalf of a nationwide class of current and former store managers seeking overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act...

California Appellate Court Overturns $15 Million Overtime Class Action Judgment

February 10, 2012 23:43

In Duran v. U.S. Bank National Association, the California Court of Appeal, First Appellate District, overturned a $15 million judgment against U.S. Bank ("USB") entered in a case tried before Alameda County Superior Court Judge Robert Freedman. In its lengthy and very detailed opinion,...

Federal Court in New Jersey Refuses to Approve Confidentiality for Wage and Hour Settlement

February 03, 2012 22:36

By Gregory B. Reilly Employers faced with wage and hour litigation often seek to condition settlement on the agreement of plaintiffs to keep the settlement and its terms confidential. Confidentiality is often an important condition of settlement because employers may hope to avoid...

Santa Fe Local Ordinance Sets Country's Highest Minimum Wage Requirement

February 01, 2012 20:16

By Joseph Lazazzero On March 1, 2012 the minimum wage for employers in Santa Fe, New Mexico will increase to $10.29 per hour. The rate will exceed San Francisco’s $10.24 requirement, becoming the highest minimum wage in the country. The reason for the increase is a city ordinance that ties...

California Court of Appeal Finds Employees Are Exempt Under California's Commissioned Sales Exemption

January 30, 2012 23:11

By Diane Kimberlin On January 24, 2012, the California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, issued an important decision providing new and needed guidance on the commissioned sales exemption. In Muldrow v. Surrex Solutions Corporation, the court concluded that a class of “senior...