The Employer Handbook

Articles Posted in Minimum Wage

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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 cash wage of $2.13 under the Fair Labor Standards Act (unless your state requires a higher minimum wage) and use customer tips as a credit against the $7.25/hr. minimum wage obligation to the employee. This is known as, you guessed it, the tip credit.  Continue reading

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@RealDonaldTrump on Twitter

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 can figure out the true meaning of “covfefe” ??? Enjoy!” Well, his Press Secretary, Sean Spicer, told reporters, “The president and a small group of people know exactly what he meant.”

Folks, you’re in luck! As part of that small group of people, I know exactly what President Trump met. You see, “covfefe” is the solution to all of your HR-compliance problems.

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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 years.

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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 did I.

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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 Howell takes some shrapnel and, frankly, I didn’t realize that Thurston could order a hit squad so quickly to a remote Island.

By the time I remembered the SOTU, the Harlem Globetrotters were busting out a ladder — sorry, Krusty — and que sera.

Fortunately for me, and, by extension, you, the White House printed a copy of the SOTU, which I could cut and paste expertly analyze for you after the jump…

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Last week, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter signed this Executive Order, which will require that many city contractors provide a minimum wage of $12/hour beginning January 1, 2015. (Although, the Order will also apply to bids and proposals issued May 20, 2014).

The Executive Order also requires that contractors meet that same minimum wage standard for their first-tier subcontractors.

For more on which employers/employee qualify, read the Executive Order.

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When you think of minor league baseball, you may draw on movies like Bull Durham or The Rookie; long bus trips from stadium to stadium where teams play in front of small crowds for small pay.

Well, apparently, the pay may be small enough to trigger a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act

As pitchers and catchers being to report for Spring Training, Craig Calcaterra at NBC Sports HardBall Talk reports here that three minor league baseball players have initiated a putative class action in federal court against Major League Baseball, among others. In the Complaint (copy here), the plaintiffs allege violations of the FLSA stemming from the failure to pay minimum wage and overtime for working more than 40 hours per week.

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Well, that certainly sucks. Even worse than the time I found out that Santa Claus MacGyver wasn’t a real person.

(My psychiatrist says that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. I’m not so sure…)

But seriously, I thought that the purpose of a limited liability company was to insulate members from the debts of the company.

After the jump, see how that rule doesn’t necessarily apply when an LLC fails to pay minimum wage or overtime…

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Welcome everyone to the Employment Law Blog Carnival. What you’ll find after the jump is the best, recent posts from around the employment-law blogosphere all organized around a common theme.

So, yeah, we need a theme.

[Lousy blog rules]

Two years ago, we spun some tunes with the “Employment Law Blog Carnival: Jukebox Edition.” That featured such hits like “If You Love HIPAA, Let Me See You Twerk It” and a Sex Pistols B-side hidden track about social media policies.

Last year, I went with the “Employment Law Blog Carnival: Hollywood Casting Call Edition.” To the casual internet user, my writing in that post may have seemed, oh, what’s the word, “deranged”? Here is an actual quote:

Stuart Rudner blogs “When trust has been destroyed: Just cause for dismissal.” The Canadian adaptation, “Haste Makes Waste,” is set for release next year and stars Dustin Diamond as Wayne Gretzky. No, not that Wayne Gretzky. Just some guy who plays a total screw-up and happens to have the same name as the “Great One,” which, in turn, helps him to keep his job.

But, to you, my fans, you recognize it as something more than the product of some bad salmon I ingested just before a marathon two-finger typing session. It’s gold!

So, mainly since my brain is fried from churning out this drivel — free drivel — every weekday, let’s stick with the Hollywood theme. How about the Employment Law Blog Carnival: Hollywood Villains Edition? Hannibal Lechter would approve, I’m sure. You may even see him after the jump.

So grab some liver, fava beans and nice chianti and click through to read the carnival offerings…

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