The U.S. Supreme Court recently held that a rig oil worker paid at a daily rate that amounted to $200,000 annually was entitled to overtime pay because he was not paid on a “salary basis” as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The court’s decision in Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. v. Hewitt […]
The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division recently released an opinion letter finding that employees who qualify for leave under the FMLA may use FMLA leave to work reduced hours until they have exhausted their FMLA leave. As background, an employer received a medical certification stating that an employee could only work […]
The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division released a Field Assistance Bulletin (FAB) providing guidance about employer obligations and worker protections under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) for remote employees. The DOL advises employers that: Breaks While Working Remotely Under the FLSA, […]
By Dan Lewis and Mark Brookstein With 2023 just around the corner, now is the time for employers to prepare for updates and anticipated changes to federal, state and local employment laws. Below is a brief summary of the landscape of changes to employment law for employers in 2023. What Employers In Chicago Need […]
The Illinois Department of Labor (IDOL) issued new rules last week regarding the statutory change to the Illinois Minimum Wage Law, which extends its protections to domestic workers. In a press release, the IDOL’s Acting Director Jane Flanagan was quoted saying, “The General Assembly has established that domestic workers deserve the same core labor protections […]
As employers and employees alike shift to new protocols and procedures amidst the COVID-19 global pandemic, the Department of Labor (DOL) reminded employers about their continuing responsibilities. Tracking Hours for Teleworkers Last week, the Department of Labor (DOL) Wage and Hour Division issued guidance on tracking teleworking hours for non-exempt employees. The Fair Labor Standards […]
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has released revised optional forms for employees to use when applying for leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and for employers to use when coordinating leave under the FMLA. The DOL designed the new forms, available on its website, to make the process of seeking […]
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) yesterday announced its final rule on perks and benefits under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), defining what forms of payment are eligible for the time and one-half calculation when determining overtime rates. Under FLSA, covered, nonexempt workers must be paid overtime at no less than one and one-half […]
The Chicago Fair Workweek Ordinance, which seeks to bring predictability to employee scheduling, is effective as of July 1, 2020. Under the ordinance, covered employers will be required to provide 10 days’ notice of an employee’s schedule (increasing to 14 days on July 2, 2022). The Building Owners & Managers Association of Chicago (BOMA) filed […]
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) yesterday issued its final rule on overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) increasing the salary thresholds for workers to be considered “exempt” and opening the door to an estimated 1.3 million workers receiving overtime pay next year. For the past 15 years, employees generally could be […]
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has announced an immediate stay and review of an Obama-era policy requiring pay information to be included on form EEO-1. The revised form was set to take effect with the next filing cycle in March 2018. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has always required companies to report […]
Remember last November when a federal judge put a temporary hold on significant changes to federal labor laws affecting millions of workers and their employers? We wrote about it here. Last week, the judge issued a final ruling that struck down the proposed changes, which would have required employers either to substantially increase the pay […]
On Tuesday, November 22, 2016, a Texas federal court temporarily blocked the U.S. Department of Labor’s new overtime rule nationwide, scheduled to take effect next week on Thursday, December 1. The new overtime rule (called the Final Rule) would make about 4.2 million workers across the country newly eligible for overtime. The Final Rule increases […]
As of Wednesday, companies are no longer subject to the Department of Labor’s “Persuader Rule” requiring disclosure of legal advice a company receives in response to union organization campaigns. A court in Texas has permanently blocked the new Persuader Rule. Earlier this year, the Department of Labor issued the new Persuader Rule requiring public disclosure […]
The Department of Labor just announced its updates to the overtime exemptions effective December 1, 2016. These updates (“Final Rule”) greatly impact many businesses, resulting in more than 4 million workers who are currently overtime-exempt eligible for overtime pay. Federal labor law requires that all employees receive at least a minimum wage and that most […]
Currently, employers are not required to pay overtime (time and a half) to “exempt” employees who earn at least $23,660 per year ($455 per week). Exempt employees are those employed in bona fide executive, administrative, computer and outside sales positions. (For more info, check out http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/fairpay/fs17d_professional.pdf) That could change rather drastically. The DOL has issued […]
