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A New York-based luxury nail salon apparently wasn’t very polished in contending that its illegal immigrant workers were not subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act. After a federal district court pointed out clear case law to the contrary, the salon was ordered to pay $235,920 in damages and back wages to 32 employees. The […]
The pharmaceutical industry made its case to the U.S. Supreme Court April 16 that pharmaceutical sales representatives (PSRs) are “outside salesmen” under the Fair Labor Standards Act and thus are exempt from the FLSA’s overtime requirements. A lot is at stake in the Court’s upcoming decision, since requiring overtime pay for PSRs could impose billions […]
As spring rolls in, muddy cars are a frequent occurrence, and car washes typically see increased patronage in the spring and summer months — which means longer hours for car wash employees. However, those employees are still entitled to overtime pay (and other legal protections) when high demand means increased work hours. Recently, car washes […]
Employers need to spell out their policies for off-hours use of mobile devices for work purposes or they risk racking up unnecessary overtime. Mobile devices have worked their way into virtually every area of our lives, both at work and at home. You may even be reading this blog on a smart phone or tablet […]
By Arthur Silbergeld, Esq. Anyone who works on a computer knows the sinking feeling that comes with hitting that nasty combination of keystrokes causing your machine to freeze. The fact that many companies now keep IT staff available around the clock just to help frantic employees get their misbehaving computers working, retrieve lost documents and […]
The Labor Department has extended the comment period for its proposed rule to provide minimum wage and overtime protections for in-home companions by nine days, the agency announced in a March 9 release. The division published a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register on Dec. 27, 2011, with a comment period originally set […]
The House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections postponed its hearing on controversial regulations extending minimum wage and overtime protections to home health aides, scheduled for March 7, due to the death of Representative Donald M. Payne, D-N.J., a senior member of the panel.
The Labor Department underestimated the cost of its proposal extending minimum wage and overtime protections to in-home caregivers underestimates, according to an industry group representing in-home care franchise owners. If the proposal is implemented as planned, the study concludes, both the quality of care provided to seniors and the financial health of the in-home care […]
By Khristine Scholtz The U.S. Labor Department, continuing its push for a narrow definition of outside salesmen, argued in a friend of the court brief that the outside-sales exemption is limited to employees who make their own sales. At issue is whether pharmaceutical sales representatives must be paid for working overtime hours, or are exempt […]
The New Jersey drug manufacturer Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation has reached a $99 million settlement with its drug sales representatives. The agreement, announced jointly by management and plaintiff representatives Jan. 26, resolves overtime pay disputes pending since 2006. “We believe this settlement is in the best interest of our employees and the company,” said Novartis President […]