Recent Articles

New York Federal Court Finds Questions of Fact Exist as to Whether "Assistant" or "Co" Managers at Drug Chain Are Properly Classified as Exempt Employees

March 21, 2012 19:04

The most recent installment in the continuing saga concerning the exempt status of various managerial titles in the retail industry involves a group of plaintiffs referred to by their employer (the drug chain Rite Aid) as “Co-Managers” and by plaintiffs as “Assistant...

District Judge Finds Therapists to be Exempt Professionals

March 16, 2012 12:40

The FLSA “learned” professional exemption requires an individual to perform work requiring advance knowledge in a field of science or learning, and that such knowledge customarily be acquired through prolonged academic instruction. Challenges to the applicability of this exemption...

Ohio Federal Court: USDOL's "New" Interpretation of Loan Officer Status Was Proper

March 14, 2012 16:01

Much attention has been paid to the Department of Labor’s March 2010 Administrative Interpretation, which reversed prior DOL opinions and stated that mortgage loan officers do not qualify for the administrative exemption under the FLSA. The Mortgage Bankers Association has filed a...

Reminder: The Perils of Interns

March 13, 2012 21:07

Since the Fair Labor Standards Act contains no provision contemplating the concept of the unpaid intern, employers often find themselves defending their decision to classify someone who provides services to the company as being outside the protections afforded “employees” under the...

New DOL Rulemaking Perpetuates Uncertainty Regarding Tips Under the FLSA

March 09, 2012 19:08

In 2010, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that if an employer is not taking a tip credit pursuant to 29 U.S.C. § 203(m), the FLSA does not create a property right in employee tips. Cumbie v. Woody Woo, Inc., et al., No. 08-35718 (9th Cir. Feb. 23, 2010).  In so...

Fifth Circuit: Nightclub Part Owner's Theoretical "Control" Insufficient to Render Him an Employer

March 08, 2012 15:09

While courts analyzing whether or not an individual can be liable as an “employer” under the FLSA generally agree that the appropriate standard should be the “economic realities” of the employment scenario, consensus largely concludes there. While courts focus on...

Appeals Court: Bench Trial Findings Regarding Alleged Overtime Hours Were Proper

March 02, 2012 15:00

Ascertaining the actual “hours worked” by a plaintiff alleging uncompensated working time is one of a factfinder’s most thankless tasks, requiring the judge or jury to apply prevailing law regarding what constitutes compensable “work” to conflicting testimony regarding...

NY Senate Approves Repeal of Dreaded "Wage Theft Prevention Act" Annual Notification Requirement

March 01, 2012 14:59

Calling the New York Wage Theft Prevention Act’s annual notice requirement a waste of millions of dollars - and 51 million pieces of paper! – New York State Senators yesterday voted to repeal the Act’s annual notice requirement.  This narrower repeal, which is limited to the...

Sixth Circuit Clarifies: Salary Must Be Paid to Satisfy Salary Basis Test

February 24, 2012 15:35

While it may seem straightforward and not subject to dispute that an exempt employee paid the required “salary basis” must actually receive his or her salary to preserve exempt status, the law, as always, is not so clear cut.  In fact, an employer had prevailed in arguing that the...

Two New York Courts Rule FLSA Defendants Can Proceed with Counterclaims

February 22, 2012 20:41

Suing one’s employees—current or former—is fraught with expense, risk and the very real possibility of obtaining no relief whatsoever. For these reasons, employers typically do not contemplate or if contemplated decide not to sue employees (outside of the context of...