Ever wonder whether two connected businesses, like a restaurant and private club sharing a kitchen and managers, can dodge overtime by claiming they’re separate companies? The U.S. Department of Labor just answered that question loud and clear. Continue reading
When employees rack up overtime without approval, it doesn’t make them look dedicated – it makes them insubordinate. And as one nurse at a VA hospital just learned, that can sink an age discrimination claim.
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) can no longer seek liquidated damages in administrative investigations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). That means employers resolving matters with the DOL—without going to court—are now only liable for back wages.
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. Continue reading
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 back wages and damages after the Department of Labor found systemic underpayment of overtime. A key issue? The company’s rounding and timekeeping practices. Rounding work time can be legal—but only if it doesn’t shortchange employees over time. Here’s what every employer needs to know.
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. Continue reading
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 the defendants. Continue reading
Wikipedia says that déjà vu is the phenomenon of feeling as though one has lived through the present situation before. Last Friday, a Texas federal judge vacated a U.S. Department of Labor 2024 Rule that raised the minimum salary level to be exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act overtime rules on July 1, 2024 (and would have done so again on January 1, 2025).
If this sounds familiar, it should. In 2016, a Texas federal judge did the same thing. Continue reading
Emphasizing that the Department of Labor has used a minimum salary requirement to help decide who is overtime-eligible, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recently determined that the Fair Labor Standards Act authorizes this benchmark. Continue reading
Yesterday, the Department of Labor announced that a Pennsylvania federal court awarded $35.8 million in overtime back wages and liquidated damages to 6,000 current and former workers across fifteen facilities in what it claims to be “one of nation’s largest FLSA judgments.” Continue reading
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