In a world where the lines between employees and volunteers/interns are becoming increasingly blurred, it is nice to see at least one court easily dispense with a wage and hour lawsuit. On August 13, 2015, a federal judge in San Francisco…
Blog Archives
Unions Want Exemption from $15 Minimum Wage
Apparently, Unions in Los Angeles are big believers in “Do What I say, Not What I Do.” Los Angeles recently joined a number of liberal cities in passing a bill that would raise minimum wage to $15 by 2020. Now,…
Uber and Other Startups Facing Independent Contractor Disputes
Perhaps the blurriest line in employment law is the difference between an independent contractor and employee. Companies prefer contractor status because it is cheaper and offers more flexibility. Contractors don’t receive benefits, can be relieved at any time with little…
Tagged with: contractors, independent contractor, overtime
Posted in Labor & Employment, Wage and Hour
Posted in Labor & Employment, Wage and Hour
Brace Yourselves: Major Overtime Regulations Coming Soon
The Department of Labor has been promising an overhaul of the white collar exemption regulations for over a year. The regulations were originally planned to be released in the Fall of 2014, but were pushed back to February 2015. We…
Tagged with: Department of Labor, DOL, exempt, human resources, non-exempt, overtime, salary exemption
Posted in Federal Government, Labor & Employment, Wage and Hour
Posted in Federal Government, Labor & Employment, Wage and Hour
New FMLA Regulations Will Affect Texas Employers
Texas does not recognize same sex marriage, so the natural thought would be to deny a request for an employee to take FMLA leave to care for his or her same sex “spouse” from a marriage in another state. According…
Tagged with: Department of Labor, DOL, human resources
Posted in Discrimination, Federal Government, Labor & Employment, Wage and Hour
Posted in Discrimination, Federal Government, Labor & Employment, Wage and Hour
EEOC Loses Another Background Check Case
The EEOC has taken a lot of heat on its controversial stance of aggressively litigating adverse impact cases involving background checks. In April, 2012, the EEOC issued a new enforcement guidance seeking to curtail the uses of criminal background checks…
If You Are Planning Layoffs – Here Are Five Things You Need to Know
Unfortunately, when the price of oil goes down, the employment numbers also move downward in Houston. Many clients in the oil and gas industry are either planning or considering downsizing measures, which means that it is a good time to…
Department of Labor Targeting Oil and Gas Contractors
On December 9, 2014, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced that it had achieved $4.5 million dollars in settlements from private employers as a result of a two year investigation into contractors working in the Marcellus Shale region of…
Tagged with: Department of Labor, DOL, exempt, off-the-clock, overtime, salary exemption
Posted in Discrimination, Federal Government, Labor & Employment, Wage and Hour
Posted in Discrimination, Federal Government, Labor & Employment, Wage and Hour
The Secularization of the Holidays
Employers are under increased pressure to secularize religious holidays like Christmas. No one wants to be the Grinch, but at the same time, many companies are concerned that they will being perceived as favoring Christian holidays over Muslim or Jewish…
Posted in Discrimination, Labor & Employment
Can State Medical Marijuana Laws Trump Employer Rights?
Currently, 23 states and the District of Columbia have medical marijuana laws which allow a lawful level of marijuana use. One question which comes up often in such states is whether an employer can lawfully terminate an employee who fails…
Tagged with: Department of Labor, EEOC, Unemployment benefits
Posted in Discrimination, Labor & Employment, Wage and Hour
Posted in Discrimination, Labor & Employment, Wage and Hour
