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Articles Posted in Minimum Wage

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New $15 minimum wage bill will be introduced in the Senate today.

Copyright Free – Stock Free images. Public Domain image dedication. CC0 1.0 Universal Licence – http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ For nearly ten years, from September 1, 1997 through July 23, 2007, the federal minimum wage was $5.15 per hour. Three times in the following two years, the minimum wage rose, settling in at $7.25 per…

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When does federal law require you to pay a job applicant to interview? Wait, what?!? (UPDATED)

Image Credit: Pixabay.com (https://pixabay.com/en/dollar-gift-hand-keep-give-3313761/) #TheMoreYouKnow A big tip of the cap and thank you to Janette Levey Frisch, who is the muse for today’s post. Yesterday, Janette posted on LinkedIn and a U.S. Department of Labor settlement. This isn’t just any ordinary wage and hour settlement. No, this one settled Fair Labor…

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Fair Labor Standards Act Obituaries: The 80/20 Rule

Image Credit: Photofunia.com (http://photofunia.com/results/5beb885c846d785f4e8b456d) The 80/20 rule passed away peacefully on November 8, 2018, when the U.S. Department of Labor issued this Opinion Letter. Rachel Taylor, writing for FoodNewsFeed.com has a nice summary of the 80/20 rule: Since it began on March 2, 2009, the confusing “80/20” rule has been…

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Citing Harry Potter, Third Circuit requires employers to pay non-exempt workers for short breaks.

Yep, Harry Potter. On Friday, the Third Circuit of Appeals issued a precedential Fair Labor Standards Act opinion. The issue was whether the FLSA requires employers to compensate employees for breaks of 20 minutes or less after they log off their computers and are free from any work duties. I…

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If you own a restaurant, and pay servers more than minimum wage, can you keep customer tips?

A few years back, some progressive (?) restaurants around the country made headlines by paying their waitstaff more than minimum wage and putting the kibosh on customer tips. This broke with the traditional way of paying customarily-tipped employees in scratch offs and iced animal crackers. That is, most employers would pay the minimum-required…

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The 6 Ways “Covfefe” Can Improve HR Compliance

It all began last week with a (possible) typographical error in a tweet from our 45th President, “Despite the constant negative press covfefe.” At first, President Trump’s tweet confused us; “covfefe” even stumped a spelling bee champ while creating a spike in demand for novelty license plates. But then President Trump doubled down on Twitter, “Who…

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Do most employers pay minimum-wage workers more than $7.25/hour? YES! (And it’s not even close)

Since July 24, 2009, the federal minimum wage for covered nonexempt employees has been $7.25 per hour. Many states and cities have raised that floor, with some cities, like Seattle, headed to $15/hr. But, federally, despite pressure from many to raise it, we’ve been stuck at a $7.25 minimum wage for over 7…

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Quietly, the DOL jacks up penalties for willful overtime and minimum wage violations.

How was your Fourth of July weekend? Did you knock your 5-year-old off of her scooter in the middle of Main Street to the shocked and judging, “Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhs….” of spectators on both sides of the street with smartphones up capturing all of the parade action for posterity? ***checks YouTube again*** Well, neither…

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#SOTU and the #Workplace: A full debriefing of last night’s Presidential address

I had every intention of watching the President address the Nation last night. I really did. But, then I got sucked into the Director’s Cut of The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan’s Island, the one where the Washington Generals show up first and replace all the confetti with lice. Then poor Lovie…