The Maryland Supreme Court ruled this month that hourly employees must be compensated for time spent traveling from one workplace to another under certain circumstances. The court determined that the federal Portal-to-Portal Act, which provides that travel to and from a primary worksite is generally non-compensable, was never adopted in Maryland. Conversely, Maryland wage laws…
Read More »A trio of new laws took effect on July 1 in the state of Tennessee of which employers in the Volunteer State need to be aware. The laws address race-based discrimination, Veteran’s Day and the physical or mental deficiencies of workers. First off, the Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair (CROWN) Act…
Read More »House Appropriations Chairwoman and Connecticut Representative Rosa DeLauro, along with 45 democratic co-sponsors, has again filed the Wage Theft Prevention and Wage Recovery Act of 2022. In general terms, the bill would upset some long-standing legal doctrines surrounding the Labor Management Relations Act, and increase both the risk and severity of FLSA collective actions. In…
Read More »Yet another change in the tipping rules as relates the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) will become effective just a few days after Christmas when the newest DOL Final Rule on paying tipped employees kicks in on December 28, 2021. These latest DOL regulations resurrect the 80/20 rule, whereby an employer can only take a…
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At the end of July 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) implemented a final rule to rescind the “Joint Employer Status under the Fair Labor Standards Act,” also known as the Joint Employer Rule, which first published in January 2020 under the Trump administration. This action should come as no surprise if you are…
Read More »In the same vein, the Department of Labor (DOL) also announced this week that it was launching a new initiative aimed at strengthening the rights of workers. This new effort, entitled “Essential Workers, Essential Protections”, provides workers with information about the wage and hour laws that apply to them, including instructions on how to contact DOL with questions or complaints.…
Read More »There seems to be a steady stream of interim and final rules being promulgated by various agencies of the federal government recently and the Department of Labor joined the parade this week as well. DOL issued a final rule allowing employers to offer those workers with “flexible workweeks” bonuses and/or hazard pay without jeopardizing how…
Read More »Earlier this week, the US Department of Labor (DOL) sent its joint employer rule to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval – the last step before publication in the Federal Register. The proposed rule for application of the joint employer standard under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) will make…
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Over the last decade, our firm has represented hundreds of Dunkin’ franchisees who have expanded their networks through the purchase of existing restaurants. The vast majority of these acquisitions are transacted as purchases of tangible (e.g. furniture, fixtures, and equipment) and intangible (e.g. telephone numbers) assets, as opposed to the purchase of the stock or…
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In this day and age, most employers have considered the possibility of wage-hour liability. Savvy employers understand that wage-hour liability comes in many different forms, and two of the most talked about have been “misclassification” and unpaid overtime. Misclassification can occur in one of two ways: either the employer classifies a worker as an independent…
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