Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)

Even Busta Rhymes Can’t Keep Settlement of Unpaid Overtime Claim Confidential

the situation An employer decides to settle a claim brought by an employee under the FLSA for unpaid overtime.  The employer would like to keep the settlement confidential—is that okay? the ruling Most likely no.  A federal court in New York recently rejected the parties’ joint motion for settlement approval that would have kept the […]

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Just What is a “Suitable Space” for a Nursing Mother?

the situation An employee returns to work after having a child and requests that she be provided with a place to express breastmilk.  The law mandates that employers provide employees with suitable space and time for nursing—but what exactly does this mean? the ruling A federal court in Arizona recently addressed this issue and found […]

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Failing to Keep Time Records Can Come Back to Bite You

the situation An employer treats all employees it calls “managers” as exempt under the FLSA and so does not keep any time records for them.  If these employees later bring an action for unpaid overtime and a court agrees they were improperly classified as exempt, how could the employer’s inability to produce time records affect […]

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Do You Need to Pay Your Interns?

the situation Your company allows students to work during the summers as interns.  Do they have to be paid?

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So When Do You Need to Pay Employees For Breaks?

the situation An employer rolls out a new system under which employees are free to log off and take breaks whenever they choose—but they will only be paid for the time if they log back in within ninety seconds.  Is this a violation of the FLSA?

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Can a Company Trade Services for Pay?

the situation A fitness studio offers its customers the opportunity to trade a free monthly membership for a few hours of cleaning each week. It is a completely voluntary arrangement.  Could this later come back to bite the fitness studio?

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Does Time on Mobile Device Support a Claim for Unpaid Overtime?

the situation You have employees who are doing work after hours on their mobile devices. Although you have a procedure for submission of any overtime worked, these employees do not report these hours as time worked. Can they bring a claim against you for unpaid overtime under the FLSA, arguing that you should have known […]

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Applying the Administrative Exemption under the FLSA

  the situation One of the requirements of the administrative exemption of the FLSA is that an employee must have as his or her primary duty “office or non-manual work related to the management or general business operations of the employer or the employer’s customers.”  So what exactly does this mean? Do mortgage underwriters meet […]

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Duane Reade Settles FLSA Collective Action for $13.5 Million—But Can’t Make Plaintiffs’ Counsel Keep Quiet About It?

the situation A group of employees brings a FLSA collective action against an employer, claiming they were misclassified as exempt and denied overtime pay over a number of years.  After many years of litigation, the employer is able to reach a resolution, agreeing to pay the plaintiffs millions.  Of course, the lawyers who represented the […]

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Even if Staffing Company is Paying Employees, You Could be on the Hook for Unpaid Wages

the situation You go through a temporary staffing company for a certain group of employees and that company takes care of paying the employees. If the staffing company fails to properly pay these employees, what type of consequences could you face?

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