Wage and Hour

Paycheck Fairness Act fails in the Senate, plus other news…

June 6, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

Billed as a way to provide more effective remedies to victims of discrimination in the payment of wages on the basis of sex, the Paycheck Fairness Act, did not make it out of the Senate yesterday. The Paycheck Fairness Act earned 52 votes in favor of proceeding to final consideration, eight votes shy of the 60 votes necessary for cloture. The vote came down strictly along party lines, with the two independent senators voting with the Democrats and Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) not voting. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) changed his vote so that he could bring the bill up again.

In other news…

The Eleventh Circuit Court of appeals ruled on Monday that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 permits claims for retaliatory hostile work environment. The decision brings the Eleventh Circuit in line with everyone else.

That’s what they said: “Naked ambition” and a “voyeur boss”? (And more…)

May 18, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

As evidenced by the nature of this blog post and the picture on the right, it’s best not to leave me in the office alone, unsupervised, with an iPhone, and App Store credits, as I punch this out at 10:52 at night on a Thursday. (And yet, somehow, the Wall Street Journal deems me quotable).

Rest assured, everything I do, I do it for you. And, best of all, it’s all employment-law related. Love my job!

(My wife has to be cool with me using our wedding song for this blog post, right? Love ya, baby! “Take me as I am….”)

That’s what he said: “Oktoberfest” & “No OT for you!”

May 9, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

Cool image, huh? I drawed it myself. The fact that I took the time to do that suggests that I am in no condition to blog intelligently. Plus, Pandora is on the fritz, so I am all sorts of pissy. Therefore, before I turn out the lights and lock the door at the office, how about some Slipknot — anger issues, Eric? — and “That’s what he said” after the jump…

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Fact or Fiction: FLSA preempts state wage and hour laws?

March 29, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

That’s right folks. It’s time for another edition of “Fact or Fiction” a/k/a “Quick Answers to Quick Questions” a/k/a QATQQ f/k/a “I don’t feel like writing a long blog post” d/b/a (just for today) “Eric’s 36th-Birthday Post”.

*** Sigh ***

Ahh…let’s get to today’s question:

6 keys to keeping unpaid internships from becoming a hot wage & hour mess

March 28, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

Yesterday, I presented “Reducing the Risk of Wage and Hour Litigation” with my partner, Jennifer Platzkere Snyder, at ALM’s In-House Counsel Labor and Employment Law Forum. We talked best practices, common mistakes, and Supreme Court.

We also dipped into some hot issues, the hottest of which, by far, based on audience engagement, was unpaid internships. Oh boy, is it easy for companies to potentially screw up unpaid internships. Just ask Charlie Rose and Harper’s Bazaar.

Want to get ’em right without running afoul of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Six steps to success follow after the jump…

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U.S. Department of Labor has new FLSA and FMLA fact sheets

January 24, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

Last month, the U.S. Department of Labor published new fact sheets on its website. Employers and employees alike will want to check these out:

Here is a link to the FLSA fact sheet. This fact sheet provides general information concerning the FLSA’s prohibition of retaliating against any employee who has filed a complaint or cooperated in an investigation.

Your favorite “The Employer Handbook” posts from 2011

December 30, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

As the year draws to a close, let’s take a look back at the most popular posts at The Employer Handbook in 2011, based on number of hits:

5. Social media and the workplace. School teacher Natalie Munroe made several appearances on the blog this year. Remember her? She was the blogging school teacher who wrote that her students were “utterly loathsome in all imaginable ways.” Although, Ms. Munroe eventually returned to work, her experience is a sound reminder to always think twice before hitting “send.” You can read the fifth-most-popular post, “Yes, you CAN discipline employees who abuse social media” here.

4. I’m a poet and I don’t even know it. I’m not sure what inspired the fourth-most-popular post. It must have been a slow news day. How else do I come up with the idea to Haiku — verbing a noun, sorry — about recent employment-law decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court?

Nothing good comes of forcing employees to go to brothels

December 19, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

And, then, there are those that allegedly do. It is on those occasions that this blog can practically write itself.

Take, for example, AutoNation. According to a complaint recently filed in California state court — well, let’s just say that AutoNation better have some good lawyers.

A copy of the complaint and some crazazy unlawful harassment — allegedly, of course — follows after the jump. Along with a few employer tips on same-sex harassment.

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When your employee works OT on the QT, must you pay it?

December 15, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

That was the question that the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals faced in an opinion released yesterday. I’ll provide the answer and some analysis after the jump…

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What’s the tax treatment on a Georgia lap dance anyway?

September 21, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

After the jump, you’ll meet Karenza Clincy. She, along with other “nude, female exotic dancers,” sued The Onyx (safe for work), an Atlanta Nightclub, for wage and hour violations. The club claims that the dancers are independent contractors. The plaintiff-dancers claim that they are employees — and employees get minimum wage and time-and-a-half for overtime.

Who wins? ~~We all do.~~ Hit the jump for a trip down to the A-T-L (feat. Ludacris) and — what the heck were we talking about — oh yeah, the answer to some legal question…