One of the thorniest areas of Fair Labor Standards Act law concerns tipped employees. Disputes involving tipped workers are among the most frequent to arise. One area where difficulties may emerge is when an employer establishes a mandatory tip pool. While some workers, like servers, might obviously be included in…
The Fair Labor Standards Act does not authorize class actions brought by groups of plaintiffs. Instead, the FLSA has a unique procedure under which groups of employees may join in civil litigation — the collective action. One of the critical crossroads in a potential collective action is the juncture where…
One area of wage-and-hour law where employers can easily run afoul of the Fair Labor Standards Act is overtime pay… or, more specifically, underpayment of overtime. If an employer does not correctly assess the forms of compensation that go into calculating a worker’s regular rate of pay, then that employer…
A Fair Labor Standards Act collective action can be a powerful tool for workers. Similarly, employers may find it preferable to fight an individual action as opposed to a collective lawsuit. Whether you are a worker or an employer, it is beneficial to understand the standards the law erects for…
One of the more substantial mistakes a business can make is to misclassify employees as independent contractors. An employee whose employer erroneously labels them as an independent contractor may be denied health care insurance coverage, family leave, and unemployment protection. They may also be deprived of the right to receive…
In any legal or administrative dispute, one of the most consequential decisions you must make is whether to settle with the other side or to litigate the dispute all the way to a judgment by a jury or judge. With each option comes particular potential benefits and drawbacks, which is…
A recent federal appellate ruling is likely a relief for some employers on the West Coast, and perhaps beyond. Although the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals’ opinion is only binding in several western states, it nevertheless represents the latest chapter in a growing trend among federal appellate courts. That trend…
A minimum wage case that recently came before the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals (whose decisions control federal lawsuits in Georgia, Florida, and Alabama) is an example of how employees with legitimate Fair Labor Standards Act claims can still lose if they proceed without counsel and get tripped up by…
Recently, a Greene County employer found itself facing not one but two federal lawsuits related to its pay practices and overtime compensation. The pair of filings illustrates how misclassifying workers can have numerous, complex impacts, both on the employer being sued and on employees who must decide whether to join…
The rules the Fair Labor Standards Act sets up regarding time-and-a-half overtime compensation are often nuanced and can be complicated. Employers risk noncompliance when they fall into the trap of oversimplification. For example, paying a worker a large sum every week or month does not necessarily mean that the worker…