On March 14, 2025, President Trump revoked two significant Biden-era executive orders, bringing major changes to federal contracting policies: Executive Order 14026 (Increasing the Minimum Wage for Federal Contractors) – Issued by President Biden in 2021, this order raised the minimum wage for federal contractors to $15 per hour, with…
The Fair Labor Standards Act has been known to trip up HR professionals and employer lawyers, too. Payment for travel time, for example, can have several variables, such as when, where, why, and how. However, a recent Third Circuit decision clarified when, if ever, an employee’s travel time between client…
Navigating the maze of wage laws can sometimes feel like playing a high-stakes game of “gotcha,” especially for restaurant operators. A recent opinion letter from the Department of Labor (DOL) clarifies when managers and supervisors can participate in tip pools if they perform the same duties and responsibilities as other…
Last week, the Supreme Court clarified employers can show how certain employees don’t need to be paid overtime or minimum wage under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) Spoiler alert: it’s not as tough as some courts thought. Why Did This Case Happen? The case involved sales representatives for a…
In a recent precedential decision, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals addressed a critical issue for employers: whether they must compensate employees for the actual time spent on work-related activities, even if they are lollygagging. Or can an employer comply with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) by paying employees…
At Noon ET, Amy Epstein Gluck, Michael Elkins, and I will present “What the Legal Landscape Looks Like for 2025.” Come hang with us for an hour while we cover key legal updates for 2025. Our friends at HR Learns, who are hosting this event, have pre-approved our sesh for…
Last year, several media outlets reported about a lawsuit that a clothing designer who worked for Lizzo and her touring company had asserted against them and another individual. That lawsuit included several claims under state law for discrimination, retaliation, and assault, among others. On paper, it didn’t sound good for…
Suppose you commonly reimburse employees for certain expenses like mileage, meals, or equipment. Suppose instead of paying them the usual rate of “x,” you decide to pay them significantly more, like maybe “4x” for those expenses. Can you do so and exclude those payments from the employee’s regular rate of…
Credit: Lori Chavez-DeRemer on Instagram If you had your money on President-Elect Trump selecting a pro-labor Republican with support from several unions to run the U.S. Department of Labor, you and I should go to Vegas together so I can ride your coattails. On Friday, President-elect Donald Trump tapped Oregon…
In the wake of election results earlier this month that will result in a Republican president and a Republican-controlled Congress in 2025, it’s reasonable to expect some changes in employment law. I’ve assembled an all-star panel of employment lawyers to explore them, including my partners Amy Epstein Gluck and Dessi Day and two…