On another front in the ongoing joint employer battle, the clarification promised by the Department of Labor in the form of a new rulemaking defining joint employer under the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) has yet to be completed. The DOL had proposed that such a rule would be written and circulated…
Read More »The undoing of the Obama legacy continued last week when the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) rescinded the so-called 80/20 rule. The 80/20 rule, technically created when the department rescinded the prior rule back in 2009, established a threshold of 20% for determining whether a tipped employee could be paid the lower tipped wage for…
Read More »The Department of Labor on Tuesday announced it was extending the Payroll Audit Independent Determination Program (PAID) for an additional six months. PAID is a voluntary compliance initiative that helps workers collect back wages due them in an expedited manner without having to wait for lengthy investigations to conclude or initiate court cases. Through PAID,…
Read More »The gridlock on joint employer notwithstanding, the Department of Labor (DOL) this week extended for three years the validity of current notices and medical certification forms for use in complying with the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) The forms were set to expire last Friday, August 31, but have now been extended until…
Read More »Last week, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) within the Department of Labor issued a new directive governing the process by which the federal government analyzes pay compliance by federal contractors. The new directive, which rescinds the more bureaucratically-involved process implemented by the Obama administration back in 2013, requires OFCCP pay analysis to…
Read More »The Trump Department of Labor, at long last, officially rescinded on Tuesday of this week, the persuader rule, which triggered certain reporting requirements on employers in the face of union organizing efforts. Under the Obama-era rule, employers were required to disclose information and advice that outside consultants and attorneys were giving relative to means by…
Read More »The Department of Labor this week finally issued its rule authorizing the creation of association health plans (AHP) that can help small businesses and the self-employed to get more affordable health coverage. Under the new rule, which will become effective on September 1 2018, the definition of an employer under the Employee Retirement Income Security…
Read More »The Task Force on Apprenticeship Expansion, created by President Trump under the leadership of Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta, finished its work last week and issued its final report to the President. Almost one year after the group was created by executive order, they identified a number of hurdles to creating the new industry-led apprenticeship programs,…
Read More »The US Department of Labor this week issued Field Assistance Bulletin (FAB) 2018-3 on the impact of the tip pooling provisions contained in the Omnibus Spending Bill signed into law by the President a few weeks ago. The FAB makes clear that employers who pay the full FLSA minimum wage are no longer prohibited from…
Read More »The Department of Labor’s new amnesty program for companies that owe back wages becomes effective next Tuesday, April 3. The Payroll Audit Independent Determination (PAID) program allows employers to self-report wage and hour violations without legal consequences so long as they are not prior offenders and they pay affected workers the full back pay owed.…
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