Wage & Hour

A Georgia Delivery Driver Wins Payment of Post-Judgment Collection Costs and Fees Following a Successful FLSA Claim

January 31, 2024 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

Food delivery drivers frequently can be the victims of Fair Labor Standards Act violations. That can include improperly underpaying drivers who use their personal vehicles for deliveries (by paying them only the minimum wage and then not properly paying them for the vehicle expenses they incur,) or illegally underpaying them as a result of misclassification as exempt employees when they really were non-exempt. Whether you’re a driver who believes your employer denied you the pay that you were owed under the law, or you’re an employer seeking to ensure that your pay practices are compliant with relevant laws, if you have questions about the FLSA, you should seek out knowledgeable answers from an experienced Atlanta age and hour lawyer.

One of those underpaid workers was A.N., a North Georgia pizza delivery driver, who filed to arbitrate a claim that the employer had illegally underpaid him in violation of the FLSA in 2019. The next year, an arbitrator sided with the driver and concluded that he had suffered $5,198 in actual damages. Coupled with $5,198 in liquidated damages and $153,867 in attorneys’ fees and costs, the total award was $164,264. The federal court for the Northern District of Georgia affirmed the award.

The employer, however, refused to pay. That forced the driver to bring a collection suit in federal court in Missouri, which the employer contested. The driver ultimately succeeded in collecting the judgment but spent an additional $53,934 to do so. The driver, in pursuit of the collection of those expenses, returned to the Northern District court on a motion for fees and costs.

Exotic Dancers and Employment Classification: What a Series of FLSA Cases Can Teach, Even if Yours is Not an ‘Adult’ Business

December 22, 2023 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

One of the emerging areas in Fair Labor Standards Act litigation centers on the misclassification of exotic dancers. Several groups of dancers have successfully sued clubs for illegally misclassifying them as independent contractors instead of employees. While this industry may be relatively small, these misclassification cases hold significance for more than just adult entertainment clubs and the dancers who perform in them. The question of “independent contractor or employee” is a crucial one in many lines of work and misclassification can have extremely deleterious consequences. If you have questions about independent-contractor-or-employee classification, contact a knowledgeable Atlanta worker classification lawyer to get the answers you need.

One local club in Northeast Atlanta is facing FLSA litigation… and it isn’t their first time. Last month, a group of four dancers sued the club seeking recovery for “unpaid wages and overtime compensation, interest, liquidated damages, attorneys’ fees, and costs” under the FLSA.

A decade ago, that same club settled a previous FLSA lawsuit, agreeing to pay a class of 73 dancers more than $1.5 million. In that case, the club classified the dancers as independent contractors and the dancers’ compensation consisted solely of the tips they received. Additionally, the club charged its dancers various fees to perform at the establishment.

The Consequences of Employees Working Off the Clock

December 8, 2023 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

Workers can encounter many forms of misconduct that amount to violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act. One of these issues relates to work performed off the clock. Whether you are an employee or an employer, if you have questions about unpaid hours and the FLSA, be sure to get in touch with an experienced Atlanta wage and hour lawyer to understand thoroughly your rights and responsibilities.

A major insurance company — whose CGI mascot is widely popular and seemingly ubiquitous on some television sports broadcasts — has found itself accused of multiple FLSA violations in the last few years, with the most recent action proceeding just to our south in the Middle District of Georgia federal court.

The employees were sales representatives who worked in the insurer’s call center in Macon. They alleged that the employer improperly forced them to perform essential job-related tasks before or after hours or during breaks, including booting up and shutting down their computers, responding to emails during meal periods, and staying late if their computer terminals malfunctioned during the day.

An Unpaid Overtime Case from Atlanta Sheds Light on the Importance of Keeping Good Pay Records

October 24, 2023 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

An Atlanta wrecker and towing service found itself in court after two drivers accused it of illegally failing to pay them the overtime compensation they were properly due under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The court’s summary judgment ruling in the case includes vital lessons for employers when it comes to the importance of maintaining clear and thorough pay records, as well as the risks involved in handing off FLSA compliance to a third party. If you’re facing an unpaid overtime claim (or pursuing one,) representation from a knowledgeable Atlanta wage and hour lawyer can be essential to your success.

The drivers typically worked 4-5 12-hour shifts each week. The employer paid its driver a straight commission weekly that was “calculated as a percentage of the total revenue they derived from the tows they performed that week.” For one driver that percentage was 30%, for the other it was 35%.

As noted above keeping clear, understandable, and accurate time and pay records for all employees can be crucial to any business.

The U.S. Department of Labor Proposes a Major Modification in the Salary Threshold Tied to the FLSA’s Executive and Administrative Exemptions

September 30, 2023 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

Earlier this year, the Fair Labor Standards Act celebrated its 85th anniversary. Later this year, the executive and administrative exemptions will also turn 85 years old. The FLSA helps ensure workers receive fair compensation, while the exemptions provide important aid to employers. Whether you are an employer or an employee, it’s important to understand what the FLSA and its exemptions do (and don’t) require. If you have questions, get in touch with a skilled Atlanta wage-and-hour lawyer to get the knowledgeable answers you need.

When the federal government created the first salary threshold for the executive and administrative exemptions in 1938, that number was $1,560 annually. By 1949, the figure was $5,200.

Currently, the minimum salary an employer can pay and also claim the executive or administrative exemption is $684 per week, or just over $35,500. If a proposed rule from the U.S. Department of Labor takes effect as written, that figure will — for the first time — climb above $50,000 annually, at $1,059 per week, or just slightly above $55,000 annually.

How a Workplace’s Time Clock Rounding Policy May Constitute a FLSA Violation

September 25, 2023 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

A case from outside Georgia serves as a useful reminder to employers and employees alike regarding the Fair Labor Standards Act’s rules regarding “rounding” time a worker works each day. The overarching concept that you need to know is this: if an employer’s rounding policy results in an outcome where, over time, workers are not compensated “properly for all the time they have actually worked,” then that policy may represent an FLSA violation. If you have questions about a time rounding policy, make sure to get reliable answers by consulting an experienced Atlanta wage and hour lawyer.

The recent case involved a Kansas City-based health system and a large class of its workers. The health system used a popular computer software-based timekeeping system, Kronos Workforce Timekeeper.

The employer had a rounding policy where a “clock-in” or “clock-out” that occurred within six minutes of the scheduled shift start or end time was rounded. In other words, a worker who clocked in at 8:04 for an 8:00 shift was paid as if she arrived at 8:00. Similarly, a worker who clocked out at 6:05 for a shift ending at 6:00 was paid as if she left at 6:00.

Which Workers Are (and Aren’t) Exempt from Overtime Compensation as a Result of Their Executive Duties

September 18, 2023 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

In the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare asked the timeless literary question, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet.” Those lines highlight the truth that changing a name or a title does not, by itself, change the named item’s inherent identity and characteristics. This also can be true in employment law where, just because a job title sounds like a managerial role, the reality of the work you do every day may indicate that your job actually is something very different, which can matter a great deal when it comes to overtime compensation. If you have questions about exempt status or possible unpaid overtime, you should take the time to get reliable answers by contacting a knowledgeable Atlanta wage and hour lawyer.

Recently, this blog looked at the administrative exemption to the overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Today, we focus on another exemption that generates disputes with some frequency: the executive exemption. In many instances, these disputes involve managers at retail establishments who spend most of their workdays doing non-managerial work.

Last month, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals (whose decisions guide federal cases in Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee) considered one of these matters and ruled for the employer.

Sovereign Immunity and Successfully Pursuing an Unpaid Overtime Claim Against Your Public Employer in Georgia

August 18, 2023 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

Sometimes, an unpaid overtime case is relatively straightforward. Other times, though, unpaid overtime cases can involve many layers and complexities, including issues like an employer’s potential immunity from liability. Whether you are an employee or an employer, it is crucially important to understand all of your rights and responsibilities under the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. If you have questions or concerns about those rights or responsibilities, you should seek out knowledgeable answers from an experienced Atlanta unpaid overtime lawyer.

If you’re suing a state agency, sovereign immunity may be an argument you encounter. A recent overtime dispute between the state’s Department of Public Safety (DPS) and state troopers highlights a situation where workers were able to overcome a state agency’s assertion of immunity.

R.J. was one of several hundred men and women hired as state troopers with the Georgia State Patrol between 2014 and 2020. The DPS requires all of its state troopers to attend (and graduate from) a mandatory “trooper school.”

The U.S. Labor Department Issues New Guidance on the Rights of Breastfeeding Workers and the Responsibilities Their Employers Have Toward Them

May 24, 2023 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

A few months ago, this blog looked at the impact of the Fair Labor Standards Act on remote workers, including new moms who are breastfeeding or expressing milk during the workday. Today, we’re going to look at a related but separate group: pumping moms working at the employer’s worksite. Whether an employee is or is not remote, she has certain rights under federal law. So, if you’re an employer seeking to ensure compliance or you’re a worker who has been mistreated regarding your pumping, it is well worth your while to contact an experienced Atlanta wage and hour lawyer to get answers to your questions.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) issued a field assistance bulletin on this topic. Field assistance bulletins don’t carry the force of law, but the courts may rely on them as a persuasive (but not precedential) authority.

That May 2023 bulletin followed in the wake of President Biden’s signing into law the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (PUMP Act) in late December 2022.

A New Wage and Hour Ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court and Its Potential Impact on Some High-Earners in Georgia

February 28, 2023 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

In an important new ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court recently clarified the standards under which a worker does (or does not) qualify as a salaried exempt employee for purposes of overtime compensation. The 6-3 decision in favor of an oil rig worker clarifies that just because an employee earns a very high income, that does not automatically mean that he/she is an exempt employee. Regardless of how much you make, if you think that you meet the legal standards for a non-exempt employee, then you may be entitled to overtime pay and if your employer didn’t compensate you accordingly, you potentially can, with the aid of the right Atlanta unpaid overtime lawyer, win compensation in a Fair Labor Standards Act lawsuit.

The worker, M.H., worked as a tool pusher on an offshore oil rig. That job typically entailed the employee working 12-14 hours per day, seven days per week for a stint of four weeks, followed by four weeks off. The employer paid the pusher a daily rate of $963. All totaled, the worker earned more than $200,000 annually.

Neither the worker nor the employer argued that 29 CFR 541.604(b) applied to the pusher’s circumstance. That’s the federal regulation that says that if a worker receives extra pay based on his/her work hours, he/she can still be an exempt employee so long as there was a “reasonable relationship” between the worker’s periodic salary and the amount the worker actually earned each period.