In this installment of Epstein Becker Green’s “Class Action Avoidance” webinar series, attorney Jeffrey H. Ruzal discusses wage and hour issues that could result from “work from home” policies and practices on account of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
As fall approaches, businesses are deciding whether to fully reopen, maintain a largely remote workplace, or provide
In bringing meal and rest period claims on behalf of their clients, the plaintiffs’ bar has long argued that merely because there was an alleged meal or rest period violation, there were also “derivative” statutory violations entitling their clients to additional penalties. By arguing that an employer is also on the hook for such penalties,
On April 12, 2019, in a federal case known as Hamilton v Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., a California jury awarded more than $6 million in meal break premiums to a class of Wal-Mart employees who worked at the company’s fulfillment center in Chino, California. The jury found that by requiring class members to complete a
On December 12, 2018, in Furry v. East Bay Publishing, LLC, the California Court of Appeal held that if an employer fails to keep accurate records of an employee’s work hours, even “imprecise evidence” by the employee “can provide a sufficient basis for damages.”
In the case, not only did the employer in Furry
On July 26, 2018, the California Supreme Court issued its long-awaited opinion in Troester v. Starbucks Corporation, ostensibly clarifying the application of the widely adopted de minimis doctrine to California’s wage-hour laws. But while the Court rejected the application of the de minimis rule under the facts presented to it, the Court did not
In most wage and hour cases, each workweek gives rise to a separate claim, at least for statute of limitations purposes. Thus, an employee seeking payment for alleged off-the-clock work or an independent contractor claiming misclassification and entitlement to overtime ordinarily may seek back wages and related recovery only for work performed within a set
It is a common practice for employers to provide their employees with rest breaks during the work day. (And in some states, like California, it is required by state law.) But under what circumstances is an employer required to pay its employees for break time?
In many industries, sales are subject to ebbs and flows. Sometimes the fish are biting; sometimes they aren’t.
A common device that employers with commissioned salespeople use to take the edge off of the slow weeks and to ensure compliance with minimum wage and overtime laws is the recoverable draw. Under such a system, an
Our colleague Nathaniel M. Glasser, a Member of the Firm at Epstein Becker Green, has a post on the Hospitality Labor and Employment Law Blog that will be of interest to many of our readers: “Fourth Circuit Decision Highlights Need for Employers to Assess Whether Training Time Should Be Compensated.”
Whether time
By Michael Kun
At virtually every point in time, we have thought of ourselves as being technologically advanced.
Older readers of this blog will recall the first time they ever saw a calculator. It was the size of a paperback novel, it cost more than $100, and it was spectacular. It was unfathomable that