For more than 80 years, federal law has provided a general right to premium pay for working overtime hours, originally just for covered employees, then later for employees of covered enterprises. The laws of more than 30 states contain a comparable requirement, though in some instances differing in the particulars.
This presumptive right to the
Employers grappling with workplace attendance issues in the wake of the COVID-19 coronavirus may soon face additional challenges resulting from a potential economic downturn. Media stories are already beginning to report on potential furloughs and layoffs. For some employers, reducing the workweek (e.g., from 5 working days to 4 working days) could be a reasonable
By Peter M. Panken, Michael S. Kun, Douglas Weiner, and Larissa Lalor-Rosado
Misclassification of employees as exempt from overtime compensation has become a cottage industry for plaintiff’s lawyers and for the United States Department of Labor (“DOL”) in the Obama years. One of the most difficult issues is whether employees meet the so-called
By David Garland and Douglas Weiner
In February 2011, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit gave a resounding victory to employers in the pharmaceutical industry by finding that pharmaceutical sales representatives are covered by the outside sales exemption of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). Christopher v. SmithKline Beecham, No. 10-15257 (9th
By Douglas Weiner and Meg Thering
On October 20, 2011, the Computer Professionals Update Act (“the CPU Act”) – one of the first potential pieces of good news for employers this year – was introduced in the U.S. Senate. If passed, the CPU act would expand the computer employee exemption of the Fair Labor Standards
In an important decision that explains the distinction between promoting and making sales, the Eleventh Circuit held recently that a marketing executive was exempt from the overtime and minimum wage provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act as an outside salesperson. The case is Gregory v. First Title of America, Inc., Case No. 08-10737