Wage and Hour

What your business can do NOW to prepare for the DOL ‘Blacklisting’ rules and guidance.

September 19, 2016 | by Eric B. Meyer

In 2014, President Obama signed the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order. Folks like me on the management-side refer to this Order as the Blacklisting rules. In general terms (I’ll get a little more specific below), the Blacklisting rules require prospective federal contractors and subcontractors to disclose anything that may appear on a laundry list of labor-and-employment-law faux pas.

Last month, the Department of Labor (DOL) and the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council (FAR Council) issued the final rules and guidance implementing the Executive Order.

If you read on, I’ll tell you who’s covered by the Blacklisting rules (hint: lots of government-contractor employers), what they say, and when they take effect. I’ll also include some tips about how you can proactively prepare for these Blacklisting rules now.

Arm the torpedoes! Full speed ahead with lawsuit against new DOL overtime rules!

September 7, 2016 | by Eric B. Meyer

There are 85 days left until the new U.S. Department of Labor overtime rules take effect. However, according the a recent report from Chris Opfer and Ben Penn at Bloomberg BNA (here; subscription required), the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is ready to sue.

There’s a metaphor for the $7 million that the DOL is paying to settle its own employees’ FLSA claims…

August 16, 2016 | by Eric B. Meyer

Wait, it’ll come to me….

Do you need the new FLSA poster? Well, since I asked…

August 15, 2016 | by Eric B. Meyer

We know from Friday’s post that 89% of you are federal wage and hour minimum-wage all-stars. To celebrate, and because I love each and every one of you, the least I could do is hook you up with the U.S. Department of Labor’s new Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) Minimum Wage Poster.

Do most employers pay minimum-wage workers more than $7.25/hour? YES! (And it’s not even close)

August 12, 2016 | by Eric B. Meyer

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.

How will the new overtime rules affect workplace flexibility? Not well.

July 27, 2016 | by Eric B. Meyer

The slow death of the 9-5 workday, together with the arrival of the new FLSA overtime rules, which do into effect on December 1, could create one of the bigger wage-and-hour pitfalls for employers in 2017 and beyond.

Continue reading

Here are the 3 biggest workplace compliance concerns for the next year? No. 2 will SHOCK you!

July 14, 2016 | by Eric B. Meyer

No it won’t. But, I do like click-bait.

Quietly, the DOL jacks up penalties for willful overtime and minimum wage violations.

July 5, 2016 | by Eric B. Meyer

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.

How much time is there left for “Just In Time” scheduling? Maybe, not much.

June 28, 2016 | by Eric B. Meyer

Late last week, the District of Columbia advanced a bill aimed at ending “just in time” scheduling, where employers adjust employee work schedules for hourly workers — often within 24 hours or less — based on consumer demand.

Republicans toss up a Hail Mary to stop the new DOL overtime rules

June 8, 2016 | by Eric B. Meyer

On December 1, 2016, the new Department of Labor overtime rules will take effect. Yesterday, Senate labor committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) announced (here) new legislation under the Congressional Review Act to to stop the overtime rules dead in their tracks.

You ever see that scene in Minions where the caveman tries to stop a bear with a flyswatter?

Keep preparing for the new overtime rules.