Those were the critical issues in a precedential decision that the Third Circuit Court of Appeals issued yesterday. So let’s talk about it. Continue reading
Articles Posted in Overtime
A federal appellate court using Homer Simpson to explain wage and hour law?!? Woo hoo!!

Benoît Prieur, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Fair Labor Standards Act lawsuits aren’t exactly fodder for Silver Screen blockbusters.
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How can an employee make $200K, PLUS overtime?!? The Supreme Court explains…

Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay
A company operating an offshore oil rig paid one of its “tool pushers” anywhere from $963 to $1,341 per day. His paycheck, issued every two weeks, amounted to his daily rate times the number of days he had worked in the pay period. So if the employee had worked only one day, his paycheck would total (at the range’s low end) $963; but if he had worked all 14 days, his paycheck would come to $13,482. Under that compensation scheme, the company paid the employee over $200,000 annually, with no overtime compensation.
But, the employee who supervised many others and otherwise satisfied the duties tests for the executive exemption under the Fair Labor Standards Act sued for unpaid overtime because, he claimed, the company failed to guarantee him at least $455 per week in salary. Continue reading
You might have to pay employees to turn on and watch their computers boot up.
I’m hitting this technology theme hard this week. Continue reading
When do employers risk FLSA violations by raising and lowering hourly wage rates?
The Fair Labor Standards Act can present a minefield for even the savviest wage-and-hour gurus. Last night, I read a Pennsylvania federal court decision that helps clarify when employers can (and can’t) adjust employee pay rates. Continue reading
Four wage-and-hour mistakes cost a company well over $100K. Here’s how you can avoid them.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Labor announced that an investigation into a Japanese restaurant had uncovered violations of federal wage and hour laws, resulting in 75 servers, sushi, and hibachi chefs not receiving all of their legally earned wages.
The final bill was $171,834.
That’s a lot of toro and high-end sake. Continue reading
After the feds caught this employer red-handed not paying OT, the employer did the UNTHINKABLE!
Folks, someday, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) may darken your door to audit your books and records. Perhaps, they’ll find a violation and require you to pay back wages and liquidated damages. If your next steps involve retaliating against employees who cooperate with investigators and demanding kickbacks of back wages, you will compound those problems.
I told you so.
I’ve got your VIP passes to hear the Department of Labor discuss possible OT changes tonight
Don’t worry. I can get you past the bouncers. Continue reading
Supreme Court to decide if a supervisor making $200K+ per year should get overtime too
Whether a six-figure supervisor is exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act overtime rules is probably not something that’s kept you up at night — unless you pay your employees a lot of money without paying them a salary (e.g., day rates).
Or you’re just an FLSA nerd like me. Continue reading