Wage and Hour

Does the FLSA require paying employees who wait in security lines at work?

October 18, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

True story.

Back in 1999, when I was in law school in Washington DC, I went with my buddy to see The Matrix at the Uptown Theater in Cleveland Park. At the time, the Uptown was one of the best places around to watch an action flick. And what better movie to see than The Matrix — one of my top 10 movies of all time.

WTH does this have to do with the Fair Labor Standards Act?

Uh, duh…

[Humor me and click through, would ya?]

DOL provides guidance on home care workers and law firm internships

September 18, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

I remember back in the good old days, when law-firm internships meant private jets, caviar lunches and….toilet paper? As if!.

But now, times are tougher. Some firms find themselves forced to forego paying law students in lieu of offering volunteer pro bono opportunities to enable them to receive work experience. This recent advice letter from the Department of Labor sorts out the circumstances in which not paying these interns will pass muster on the Fair Labor Standards Act.

But the DOL wasn’t done there. Yesterday, it announced a final rule extending the Fair Labor Standards Act’s minimum wage and overtime protections to most of the nation’s workers who provide essential home care assistance to elderly people and people with illnesses, injuries or disabilities. There is also a new set of answer to Frequently Asked Questions here.

Lady Gaga may owe her former assistant a lot of unpaid OT

September 16, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

We’re talking a lot of money honey.

[Bravo, Eric. You couldn’t even make it one line without a stupid Gaga pun].

Pun free after the jump…

* * *

That’s what they said: Solving your Labor Day employee-pay issues

August 27, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

Monday is Labor Day, ~~the day I plan to break the Guinness World Record for twerking and eating BLTs — they call it BLTwerking~~ a tribute to the American Worker.

If you give your employees the day off on Labor Day, a national holiday, do you have to pay them?

My buds Jon Hyman and Mike Haberman have your answers here and here.

28 ways to avoid breaking the law when hiring summer interns

June 19, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

It’s that time of year.

You’re hiring summer interns and I’m shaving a spoked B into my playoff beard looking for an excuse to recycle my six keys to keeping unpaid internships from becoming a hot wage & hour mess.

See what I just did there?

GUEST POST: Wage Theft Quietly Becoming a Major Problem in Today’s Workplace

May 20, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

Today we have a guest blogger at The Employer Handbook. It’s Jesse Brar. Jesse is a Utah Employment Lawyer at Preston & Brar.

(Want to guest blog at The Employer Handbook? Email me).

House passes bill permitting employees to swap OT for comp time

May 10, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 223-204 to pass the Working Families Flexibility Act of 2013, which would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act to permit employers to provide compensatory time off in lieu of monetary compensation for overtime hours worked. Presently, through the Federal Employees Flexible and Compressed Work Schedules Act, only state and federal employees may receive comp time in lieu of OT.

Specifically, the Working Families Flexibility Act authorizes compensatory time off at a rate of no less than one and one half hours for each hour of overtime worked. Under the FLSA, employers must pay OT at a rate of no less than one and one half the employee’s regular rate of pay. Republicans contended the measure would allow parents to spend more time with their children. House Democratic Whip, Steny Hoyer [D-MD] has hyperbolized that the Working Families Flexibility Act “would eliminate the 40-hour workweek as we know it.”

It should come as no shock, then, that House passage was basically along party lines. And, even if it somehow passes the Senate, the President would likely veto the bill.

Employee caught in a pick, Supreme Court scratches her FLSA claims

April 17, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

** drops microphone, walks off stage **

Fine, I’ll play a quick encore.

CHEATSHEET: How to pay employees for Daylight Savings Time work

March 6, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

This Sunday, Daylight Savings Time begins, as we push the clocks forward one hour at 2:00 AM on March 10, 2013.

Did someone say Clocks?

How does the time change affect the manner in which you pay hourly non-exempt employees who work the graveyard shift? I’ll let the Department of Labor explain:

@Eric_B_Meyer on DriveThruHR #dthr

February 22, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

Have you checked out DriveThruHR yet?

DriveThruHR is the baby of Bryan Wempen and William Tincup, a half-hour radio show on which these two HR leaders, along with a guest, discuss the latest trends, thoughts and sentiment within the industry.

Yesterday, I was on DriveThruHR, Human Resource’s #1 Daily Radio, talking social media and the workplace, Americans with Disabilities Act, hockey, and gettin’ freaky with the mashed potatoes. Yeah, that’s right. Hockey.