Where have I been? I took a short break from July 4 through July 14 to spend some time offline on vacation with my family. Thanks for your patience—and I promise this one was worth the wait. The One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) became law on July 4—and with it,…
If the Department of Labor comes knocking about unpaid wages, here’s some welcome news: as of June 27, 2025, it can no longer demand liquidated damages—unless it sues you. TL;DR: In Field Assistance Bulletin (FAB) 2025-3, the U.S. Department of Labor announced that its Wage and Hour Division (WHD)…
Paying employees a flat weekly salary doesn’t make them exempt from overtime. One employer just learned that lesson the expensive way—after misclassifying dozens of workers. TL;DR: A Houston plumbing contractor paid 31 service technicians and apprentice helpers a salary and didn’t pay them overtime. But those workers didn’t qualify…
On Monday, June 2, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced the relaunch and expansion of its opinion letter program. This move reinstates a valuable compliance tool for employers, particularly those navigating complex wage-and-hour for Family and Medical Leave Act regulations. TL;DR: The DOL has revived and broadened its opinion…
A recent DOL enforcement action shows how routine rounding practices can spiral into serious legal exposure. This post breaks down one employer’s nearly $600,000 mistake—and explains what the FLSA really permits when it comes to rounding work time. TL;DR: A construction contractor just had to pay nearly $600,000 in…
This isn’t just a cromulent decision—it’s a reminder that attorneys’ fees can’t be used to shoehorn a small state wage claim into federal court. TL;DR: A federal judge in Pennsylvania kicked a wage-and-hour case back to state court after finding that the employer couldn’t show more than $75,000 was at…
Fired Over $15. Or Was It the HR Complaints? A laundromat worker reimbursed herself $15 from the register for a taxi fare—something she claimed was standard practice with a receipt. Three days later, she was fired. But because she had just complained about racial harassment, disability discrimination, and unpaid wages,…
You’d expect a company to listen when its Chief People Officer—especially one with nearly three decades of labor and employment law experience—raises concerns about compliance. Instead, this employer—a law firm—reassigned her shortly thereafter and fired her within the week of returning from bereavement leave. A jury just awarded her $3.27…
Whether you’re drafting agreements for a C-suite hire, a high-profile consultant, or a VIP client, there are legal landmines everywhere—from misclassification to IP disputes. Today, we’re tackling them all. TL;DR: Join me and attorney Merlyne Jean-Louis for a free Zoom session at 12 PM ET today—Friday, May 9, 2025—as we…
The Department of Labor just blinked. Again. In its latest move, the agency announced that it’s stepping back from its own 2024 independent contractor rule and reverting to older, more flexible standards. That’s not just a procedural shift—it’s a clear signal that the DOL may be moving away from…