Wage & Hour Issues

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.

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.)

When an Employee’s Travel is (or is Not) Compensable Under the FLSA

November 25, 2024 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

Millions of Americans commute to and from work every day. For many others, getting to work is more complex, involving extended travel and multi-day (or weeks-long) stays away from home. While the Fair Labor Standards Act does not include daily commuting to and from home among the hours for which employers must compensate employees, the rules are different when overnight stays are involved. These employment arrangements may create situations where travel time must be compensated. If you have questions about travel time and the FLSA, talk to a knowledgeable Atlanta wage-and-hour lawyer to get the accurate answers you need.

Recently, a federal appeals court in the Midwestern United States delved into this issue of travel time and the FLSA.

The employer in the lawsuit was an Indiana-based equipment installation company. Working for the company involved driving to client sites far from home. Employees would remain at their sites from a few days to several weeks. Other than per diems and mileage reimbursements, the employer did not compensate its employees for their travel time.

How Procedural Requirements May Help – or Doom – Your Unpaid Overtime Case in Georgia

October 31, 2024 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

Claiming “time of the essence” is a common marketing technique. Sellers use deadlines to create a sense of urgency and motivate buyers to act. In sales, a deadline may not be real; it may be merely an artificial tool to pique the customer’s emotions. In law, time really is of the essence in many settings, including matters involving Fair Labor Standards Act violations. A lawsuit filed after the statutory deadline is vulnerable to a motion to dismiss that will, barring special circumstances, likely end the case with no further litigation, no trial, and no award of damages. Whether you are a worker seeking to ensure a timely filing or an employer seeking to terminate a case that was filed too late, obtaining representation from an experienced Atlanta wage and hour lawyer can be an essential step en route to success.

Absent special circumstances, workers pursuing FLSA claims generally must file within either two or three years. If the worker has presented a willful violation of the law, then the law allows three years to bring that case. If the violation is not an allegedly willful one, the worker has only two years in which to sue. If you are the party seeking relief, filing after the limitations period has elapsed is potentially catastrophic to your case. Conversely, a filing that was outside the limitations period can be a huge boon if you are an employer facing an FLSA claim. In each scenario, a motion to dismiss can terminate the case right away.

A federal unpaid overtime case from Miami is a good illustration. Although not taking place in Georgia, the Miami parties were subject to the same set of requirements under the federal rules as parties to a federal lawsuit in Georgia would face, including satisfying the statute of limitations.