Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)

First Circuit Reverses District Court-Per Diem Should Have Been Included in Regular Rate

Overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) is calculated based upon an employee’s regular rate of pay.  But the issue of whether that regular rate of pay includes a per diem can be a challenging one.  Just last month, the First Circuit found that a district court improperly awarded summary judgment to an employer […]

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United States Supreme Court to Weigh In on Whether Time Spent in Security Screenings is Compensable under FLSA

On Monday, the United States Supreme Court granted cert in a case involving the question of whether time spent by employees working for Amazon.com in security checks at the end of their shifts was compensable under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). In Integrity Staffing Solutions, Inc. v. Busk, No. 11-16892 (9th Cir. 2013), two […]

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SNOW DAY! Do you have to pay exempt employees?

Even here in Hampton Roads, where we rarely see much snow at all, we have had to confront the various issues that can arise in the workplace during a snowstorm.  Do we close the office? What do we do if we remain open, yet an employee doesn’t come in?  The Department of Labor issued an […]

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Outside Sales Exemption Applies to Mortgage Loan Officer

Exemptions under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) continue to be the source of much litigation in our district and across the country.   Last month, the Eastern District of Virginia tackled the outside salesperson exemption and found that a mortgage loan officer qualified for the exemption, even though she spent only about 25-30% of time […]

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Retaliation Claims–Beware the Trickle-Down Effect of the “Wishes of the King”

Generally speaking, when an employee clearly violates established policy, employers feel pretty comfortable terminating that employee, regardless of his past complaints of discrimination or about overtime, particularly where other employees have been fired for violating the same policy.  Not so fast, warns the First Circuit in Travers v. Flight Services & Systems, Inc., 2013 U.S. […]

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