Wage & Hour

The Salary Basis Requirement Within the EAP Exception… and How Even Highly Paid Workers May Be Entitled to Time-and-a-Half Overtime

May 23, 2025 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

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 is exempt from overtime compensation. To ensure your (or your employer’s) pay practices are fully compliant, you should talk to an experienced Atlanta wage and hour lawyer.

A recent unpaid overtime case that began in neighboring Tennessee is a good example of how high earnings do not always equal exempt status for employees.

The case involved a professional pipe inspector. The inspector’s employer paid him a “guaranteed weekly salary” of $800 and an additional $100 per hour for each hour over eight he worked in a given week. The employer classified the inspector as salaried and did not pay him time-and-a-half overtime. That meant the inspector, who averaged 52 hours per week, received $100 per hour for all hours (and not $150 for hours 41 and above).

The U.S. Department of Labor Makes an Important Statement About a 2024 Rule Related to Independent Contractor Classifications

May 9, 2025 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

The U.S. Department of Labor has made multiple noteworthy changes in the wake of the transition from President Biden to President Trump in January. The changes remind employers and employees alike of the high impact federal regulations have on wage and hour law. Employers and employees alike should be mindful of the effects of changes and the potential for more. That includes consulting a knowledgeable Atlanta wage and hour lawyer for answers to your questions about your business’s (or your employer’s business’s) compliance.

One of the newest changes took place at the beginning of this month, and it involves backing away from an independent contractor classification rule established last year.

On May 1, the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division issued a new Field Assistance Bulletin (No. 2025-1), which indicated that the department will no longer follow “the 2024 Rule’s analysis when determining employee versus independent contractor status in FLSA investigations.” Instead, according to the bulletin, the division will use an earlier test.

‘Donning’ and ‘Doffing,’ Reasonable Time Versus Actual Time, and What It Takes for Pay Practices to Comply with the FLSA

February 28, 2025 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

One of the more thorny Fair Labor Standards Act issues for employers is ensuring proper compensation of employees who spend time doing activities that are essential but tangential to their jobs. Even if workers spend only minutes each day on these activities, the law says they are entitled to payment for that time, so employers should ensure that they are recording and compensating this time appropriately. Given how complicated this can be, consulting an experienced Atlanta wage and hour lawyer is vital to ensuring that your pay practices comply with the law.

Previously, this blog published posts, including one earlier this month, about questions surrounding the proper compensation of office workers for the time they spent starting up and shutting down their computers (and various applications necessary for their work.) Another area of industry where pre-shift/post-shift tasks may present pay problems is manufacturing, specifically, manufacturing workers who must put on and take off essential personal protective equipment (PPE) at the beginning and end of each shift.

In December, a federal appeals court in Philadelphia addressed this issue of pre-shift/post-shift duties. The defendant was an employer that operated a battery manufacturing and recycling facility. The employer required certain workers at the plant to wear special uniform clothing, safety glasses, hard hats, and other PPE. Some workers also had to shower at the end of each shift.

Georgia Call Center Employees Seek Compensation for Time Spent Booting Up and Shutting Down Their Work Computers

February 14, 2025 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

New technologies affect all aspects of our work lives. Workers who once wrote their clock-in and clock-out times on paper cards eventually began “punching” in and out using automated machines. Later, they clocked in and out on special electronic timekeeping machines, and eventually, timekeeping became a computerized function. With each evolution, keeping an accurate record of employees’ time worked has presented challenges. However, at each step, the law places the onus on the employer to ensure that its timekeeping records are accurate and that all employees are paid for all the hours they worked. If you believe your employer has illegally underpaid you — or you are an employer concerned about unpaid hours compliance issues — an experienced Atlanta wage and hour lawyer can provide you with essential information and advice.

Just to our south, in Macon, significant legal action is unfolding regarding timekeeping accuracy and unpaid hours in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The facts underlying the representatives’ claims are similar to those asserted in previous lawsuits in other jurisdictions. The representatives, who worked in the insurer’s call center in Macon, were required to log into a software application to take customer calls and log out of the application at the end of each shift. The application tracked the time each representative was logged in, and the employer paid representatives based on that timer.

The U.S. Supreme Court Clarifies the Standard of Proof for FLSA Exemption Disputes

January 24, 2025 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

When you pursue or defend an unpaid overtime case under the Fair Labor Standards Act, there are a lot of variables and uncertainties. One thing that is certain, in the wake of a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling, is the standard of proof that applies when the dispute centers around exempt-versus-nonexempt classifications. Even with the court deeming that the less-rigorous burden applied, employers should be aware that proving the applicability of an exemption still requires substantial evidence and deep knowledge of the law. Ensuring you have the right Atlanta wage and hour lawyer on your side can make all the difference in clearing this evidentiary hurdle.

The recent Supreme Court case began in a Maryland federal court. A group of sales representatives sued their employer for unpaid overtime. The employer contended that it owed the representatives no overtime because they were exempt employees. (Specifically, the employer deemed the representatives covered by the FLSA’s “outside salesman” exemption.)

The trial court ruled in favor of the employees, concluding that the employer failed to show “by clear and convincing evidence” that the exemption applied. The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that decision.

Determining Overtime Compensation for Employees Who Work in Multiple Locations

January 17, 2025 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

Some employees work at the same location, performing the same role every day. A lot of workers, however, do not. They may work for their employer in multiple locations and perform various roles. Employees in this latter category may be at an exceptionally high risk of suffering the harm of unpaid overtime compensation. When you work in different locations or perform different roles, it may be easier for your employer to fail to credit you for all your hours during a workweek and fail to pay overtime even though your total hours exceed 40. If you believe that your employer has illegally underpaid you in this (or any) manner, you owe it to yourself to contact an experienced Atlanta wage and hour lawyer and discuss your circumstances.

Last month, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) recovered more than $145,000 in unpaid overtime compensation in a case that involved employees whose workweeks included duties at multiple locations.

After an investigation, the division concluded that the employer, which owned three Choice Hotels establishments in Helen, Georgia, engaged in misconduct that wrongfully denied overtime pay to nearly 100 of its housekeeping and front desk employees.

More About the Pleading Necessities When Seeking a Default Judgment in a FLSA Lawsuit

December 23, 2024 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

As this blog discussed last week, most employers will vigorously litigate a lawsuit where an employee alleges a Fair Labor Standards Act violation. In the rare situations where the employer does not, something called a “default judgment” may be available to the worker. Even though you are not litigating against an actively participating defense, that does not mean success is automatic. You must clear challenging hurdles, which is why retaining a highly skilled Atlanta wage-and-hour lawyer is vital to getting the compensation you deserve.

Last week, we covered jurisdiction and venue issues in the case of a convenience store manager seeking payment for unpaid overtime. Establishing those, which the manager did, is not the only thing you must demonstrate for a judge to grant you a default judgment. You must also demonstrate several more elements specific to FLSA law. Specifically, you must show that you and the employer had an employee-employer relationship and are “covered” by the FLSA.

The woman’s allegation laid out employment as a non-exempt hourly employee at the convenience store from March 2021 to August 2022. Those assertions satisfied the court that the manager had pled an employee-employer relationship.

Default Judgments and FLSA Lawsuits in Federal Court

December 18, 2024 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

An employer will usually vigorously litigate a lawsuit alleging that it violated the Fair Labor Standards Act. Sometimes, though, the employer will not act. The deadline for filing passed with no answer… no other pleadings… nothing. When that happens in an unpaid overtime lawsuit, the worker may pursue something called a “default judgment.” Viewing this circumstance as the equivalent of an “uncontested layup” in basketball can be tempting. However, just as a basketball player does not automatically get two points when he/she has an uncontested layup opportunity, a worker does not automatically get a judgment in his/her favor solely because the employer defaulted. There are ways to mess up, even when the other side fails to contest. Having a highly skilled Atlanta wage-and-hour lawyer on your side is one way to avoid falling victim to these procedural hurdles.

For example, we can look at a recent unpaid overtime case involving a convenience store manager who was a non-exempt employee.

One of the keys to turning a motion for default judgment into an actual default judgment is making sure your court pleadings are complete and sufficiently specific. In an unpaid overtime case, that means establishing, among other things, personal jurisdiction, subject matter jurisdiction, and venue.

A Federal Appeals Court Has Taken Down the 80/20/30 Rule for Applying the Tip Credit

December 10, 2024 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

Last month, an important federal court ruling wiped out a new U.S. Department of Labor Rule expanding salaried employees’ eligibility for overtime compensation by narrowing employers’ ability to apply certain exemptions. A few months earlier, a different federal court ruling from Texas also significantly impacted wage and hour law, but on a different set of employees. This ruling targeted a 2021 DOL rule regarding the tip credit. These rulings are crucial reminders that, especially under the current legal landscape, the rules and standards of wage and hour law are prone to change. With that in mind, you must work with a knowledgeable Atlanta wage and hour lawyer to ensure that your pay practices are compliant with (or taking advantage of) all the latest developments in the law.

The tip credit is the mechanism that allows employers to pay tipped workers a base hourly wage of as little as $2.13 per hour so long as the tipped worker’s base wage plus tips equals or exceeds $7.25 per hour. In 2021, the Labor Department established a rule saying that an employer could only apply the tip credit to workers if they spent 80% (or more) of their time doing tip-producing work (like serving tables in a restaurant, for example.)

The rule also established that these workers could spend no more than 20% of their time doing “directly supporting” work. (That latter category includes things like cleaning and setting tables or making coffee and tea.) An additional part of the rule said that workers could spend no more than 30 consecutive minutes doing this supporting work, or else the employer could not use the credit.

Employers’ Recordkeeping Obligations Under the FLSA and the Dangers of Not Making Court-Ordered Pay Record Disclosures

November 29, 2024 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

Under the terms of the Fair Labor Standards Act, employers have numerous obligations. In addition to paying covered workers a minimum wage and time-and-a-half overtime compensation, employers also have an obligation to keep to an array of records related to their workers, the time they worked, and the compensation they received. Failing to keep these records can be very damaging to an employer. For answers to questions about the FLSA’s recordkeeping requirement, get advice from an experienced Atlanta wage-and-hour lawyer.

The FLSA recordkeeping troubles of a steel mill in South Alabama began after a group of its employees discovered what they believed to be a “series of wage-and-hour violations.” Those alleged transgressions included not paying the workers for all the hours they worked and shorting them on overtime compensation.

The case was a complicated matter, implicating things like multiple regular rates of pay that “changed based on the shift worked, the way time was rounded, the level of work, and the company’s monthly incentive plan.” (The employees’ overtime claims hinged, in part, on whether or not the employer assigned the correct regular rate to all the employees’ hours.)