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Wage & Hour

  • July 01, 2025

    Teamsters Unit, UPS Duel Over Reinstated Worker's Back Pay

    UPS must shell out a specified back pay amount ordered by an arbitration panel for a reinstated worker, a Teamsters local told a Pennsylvania federal court, arguing the award clearly required the company to provide a certain amount of compensation that did not factor in unemployment benefits.

  • July 01, 2025

    What Justices' Injunctions Ruling Means For Employment Law

    Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has limited universal injunctions, employers, workers and their advocates could have to turn to motions to vacate, associational standing and other pathways to relief in employment law litigation, attorneys said. Here, ¼«ËÙÈü³µ explores the potential impact.

  • July 01, 2025

    Amazon Escapes Worker's Military Leave Suit

    A former Amazon employee cannot show that she was fired because she requested to take military leave or because she needed to care for her son, a New York federal judge ruled, saying she can't rebut the company's argument that she was fired for violating security protocol.

  • July 01, 2025

    4th Circ. Says Rig Worker Not A Party To Arbitration Pact

    A rig worker's limited liability company — but not the worker himself — is a party to an oil and gas company's arbitration agreement, the Fourth Circuit ruled Tuesday, rejecting the firm's bid to send the former employee's wage and hour suit to arbitration.

  • July 01, 2025

    NY Equinox Trainers Score $12M In Unpaid Wages Settlement

    A New York federal court has given final approval to a $12 million settlement between upscale gym chain Equinox and its personal trainers, whose Fair Labor Standards Act lawsuit accused the company of shorting them on overtime wages.

  • July 01, 2025

    DOL Rule Would Reverse Obama-Era Domestic Worker Regs

    The U.S. Department of Labor is looking to roll back Obama-era regulations that redefined domestic service workers and required they be paid minimum and overtime wages, saying returning to regulations from 1975 could help expand access to care services.

  • July 01, 2025

    Boston Globe, Former Exec Settle Ahead Of Trial Over Firing

    The Boston Globe and a former high-ranking executive have reported settling a lawsuit over his 2021 firing, days before a trial in Massachusetts state court was set to begin.

  • June 30, 2025

    DOL Plans To Nix H-2A Farmworker Organizing Protections

    The Trump administration is planning to roll back a Biden-era rule that protected seasonal farmworkers on H-2A visas from facing retaliation for workplace organizing, with the U.S. Department of Labor announcing its intent to rescind the contentious 2024 rule Monday.

  • June 30, 2025

    Ex-Geico Sales Rep. Denied Class Cert., For Now

    A Georgia federal judge on Monday shot down a former Geico call center worker's bid to certify a class of more than 1,000 sales representatives who said the insurance company hasn't paid them for pre- and post-shift work, finding their theory of the case was "not supported by the evidence."

  • June 30, 2025

    Meta, Shutterstock Can Arbitrate Ex-Worker's Pay Bias Suit

    A former Giphy engineer must arbitrate her lawsuit accusing Meta, and later Shutterstock, of paying her $2 million less than male colleagues when they took over the online GIF database, a New York federal judge ruled Monday.

  • June 30, 2025

    Consulting Firm Says Ex-Exec's Wage Suit Is In Wrong Venue

    Consulting firm Profit Drivers LLC, its sole member and its chief executive officer have asked a Connecticut federal judge to dismiss a suit brought by their onetime vice president and chief financial officer claiming he was never paid for his work, arguing they have no ties to the Constitution State.

  • June 30, 2025

    Judge Mulls Mariano's OT Exemption With A Baseball Analogy

    An Illinois federal judge considering whether to declassify collectives of grocery store managers claiming a Kroger subsidiary misclassified them as being exempt from overtime pay compared them Monday to baseball player-managers like Pete Rose and pressed the parties to address "when a player-manager is more like a player than a manager."

  • June 30, 2025

    Healthcare Co.'s $120K Wage Deal Rejected

    A healthcare company can't move forward with its $120,000 settlement that resolves a collective action accusing it of failing to pay workers overtime wages for off-the-clock work they performed, a Connecticut federal judge ruled, saying the deal forces several workers to release too broad a spectrum of claims.

  • June 30, 2025

    Wage & Hour Features Revisited: State Debates, DOL Updates

    From a look at state-level debates happening in New Jersey and California to analyses on the latest minimum wage and U.S. Department of Labor developments, catch up on ¼«ËÙÈü³µ Employment Authority's wage and hour coverage from June. Here's a look at features and analyses you might have missed from the past month.

  • June 30, 2025

    Perdue Can't Reduce Collective In Misclassification Suit

    Perdue Foods LLC cannot shave off seven opt-in plaintiffs in a collective action accusing it of misclassifying poultry growers as independent contractors, a Maryland federal judge ruled, saying it's too early to determine whether the workers brought their claims too late.

  • June 27, 2025

    Google Fired Worker For Taking Medical Leave, Suit Claims

    A former Google employee said she was discriminated against and fired for taking approved medical leave, according to a lawsuit filed in Washington state court.

  • June 27, 2025

    Univ. Of Tenn. Hospital Strikes Deal To End Wage Suit

    The University of Tennessee Medical Center reached a deal Friday with a collective of flight nurses and paramedics who accused the medical center of failing to pay them overtime wages and deducting time for meal breaks they didn't get to take, according to a filing in Tennessee federal court.

  • June 27, 2025

    DOL Says No More Liquidated Damages In Wage-Hour Probes

    The U.S. Department of Labor said Friday it would no longer seek liquidated damages in wage and hour investigations, marking a shift away from its approach under the Biden administration. 

  • June 27, 2025

    Contractor Must Face OT Suit Over Fringe Benefits Payments

    A federal contractor cannot escape a lawsuit accusing it of failing to include cash in lieu of benefits payments in overtime pay calculations, a California federal judge ruled, saying the firm failed to show that the fringe benefits payments should be exempt from the regular rate of pay.

  • June 27, 2025

    Calif. Forecast: Staffing Co. Wants Discrimination Case Axed

    In the coming week, attorneys should keep an eye out for arguments in a staffing company's renewed attempt to toss a disability discrimination case. Here's a look at that case and other labor and employment matters coming up in California.

  • June 27, 2025

    HVAC Co. Cuts Deal To End Public Works Pay Suit

    A heating, ventilation and air conditioning company will pay $225,000 to resolve workers' allegations that it failed to pay prevailing wages on public works projects in New York City and New York state, a filing in federal court said.

  • June 27, 2025

    Where 4 Wage Rules Stand Halfway Through 2025

    Some Biden-era wage and hour rules that remain on the books face uncertain futures six months into 2025 in President Donald Trump's new term. Here, ¼«ËÙÈü³µ looks at where those rules stand.

  • June 26, 2025

    No Work Needed For Military Leave Pay, Wash. Justices Say

    Washington state public employees are entitled to paid military leave even if they are not scheduled to work because they are on active duty during an extended military leave of absence, the state's Supreme Court ruled Thursday, saying the state's paid military leave statute is unambiguous.

  • June 26, 2025

    Key DOL Nominees Clear US Senate Committee

    U.S. Department of Labor nominees cleared a U.S. Senate committee Thursday and are set to head to a vote in the full chamber, moving the agency closer to having a complete leadership team that is likely to proceed with policy changes.

  • June 26, 2025

    NY School Gets Bias Suit Narrowed But Must Face Pay Claims

    Hilbert College can escape a former associate professor's gender discrimination and retaliation claims but must face her claims that she was paid less than male colleagues, a New York federal judge ruled, saying a jury should evaluate the school's explanation that other factors could account for the pay disparities.

Expert Analysis

  • 2 Lessons From Calif. Overtime Wages Ruling

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    A California federal court's recent decision finding that Home Depot did not purposely dodge overtime laws sheds light on what constitutes a good faith dispute, and the extent to which employers have discretion to define employees' workdays, says Michael Luchsinger at Segal McCambridge.

  • How To Comply With Chicago's New Paid Leave Ordinance

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    Chicago's new Paid Leave and Paid Sick and Safe Leave Ordinance went into effect earlier this month, so employers subject to the new rules should update leave policies, train supervisors and deliver notice as they seek compliance, say Alison Crane and Sarah Gasperini at Jackson Lewis.

  • How NJ Worker Status Ruling Benefits Real Estate Industry

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    In Kennedy v. Weichert, the New Jersey Supreme Court recently said a real estate agent’s employment contract would supersede the usual ABC test analysis to determine his classification as an independent contractor, preserving operational flexibility for the industry — and potentially others, say Jason Finkelstein and Dalila Haden at Cole Schotz.

  • PAGA Reforms Encourage Proactive Employer Compliance

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    Recently enacted reforms to California's Private Attorneys General Act should make litigation under the law less burdensome for employers, presenting a valuable opportunity to streamline compliance and reduce litigation risks by proactively addressing many of the issues that have historically attracted PAGA claims, say attorneys at Mintz.

  • Big Business May Come To Rue The Post-Administrative State

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    Many have framed the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decisions overturning Chevron deference and extending the window to challenge regulations as big wins for big business, but sand in the gears of agency rulemaking may be a double-edged sword, creating prolonged uncertainty that impedes businesses’ ability to plan for the future, says Todd Baker at Columbia University.

  • Why Justices Should Rule On FAA's Commerce Exception

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    The U.S. Supreme Court should review the Ninth Circuit's Ortiz v. Randstad decision, to clarify whether involvement in interstate commerce exempts workers from the Federal Arbitration Act, a crucial question given employers' and employees' strong competing interests in arbitration and litigation, says Collin Williams at New Era.

  • FLSA Conditional Certification Is Alive And Well In 4th Circ.

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    A North Carolina federal court's recent decision in Johnson v. PHP emphasized continued preference by courts in the Fourth Circuit for a two-step conditional certification process for Fair Labor Standards Act collective actions, rejecting views from other circuits and affording plaintiffs a less burdensome path, say Joshua Adams and Damón Gray at Jackson Lewis.

  • After Chevron: Various Paths For Labor And Employment Law

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    Labor and employment law leans heavily on federal agency guidance, so the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to toss out Chevron deference will ripple through this area, with future workplace policies possibly taking shape through strategic litigation, informal guidance, state-level regulation and more, says Alexander MacDonald at Littler.

  • FIFA Maternity Policy Shows Need For Federal Paid Leave

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    While FIFA and other employers taking steps to provide paid parental leave should be applauded, the U.S. deserves a red card for being the only rich nation in the world that offers no such leave, says Dacey Romberg at Sanford Heisler.

  • Eye On Compliance: A Brief History Of Joint Employer Rules

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    It's important to examine the journey of the joint employer rule, because if the National Labor Relations Board's Fifth Circuit appeal is successful and the 2023 version is made law, virtually every employer who contracts for labor likely could be deemed a joint employer, say Bruno Katz and Robert Curtis at Wilson Elser.

  • What High Court Ruling Means For Sexual Harassment Claims

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    In its recent Smith v. Spizzirri decision, the U.S. Supreme Court held that a district court compelling a case to arbitration is obligated to stay the case rather than dismissing it, but this requirement may result in sexual harassment cases not being heard by appellate courts, says Abe Melamed at Signature Resolution.

  • A Closer Look At Feds' Proposed Banker Compensation Rule

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    A recently proposed rule to limit financial institutions' ability to award incentive-based compensation for risk-taking may progress through the rulemaking process slowly due to the sheer number of regulators collaborating on the rule and the number of issues under consideration, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

  • DOL's New OT Rule Will Produce Unbalanced Outcomes

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    The U.S. Department of Labor's new salary level for the Fair Labor Standards Act overtime exemption is about 65% higher than the current threshold and will cause many white collar employees to be classified as nonexempt because they work in a location with a lower cost of living, not because of their duties, says Stephen Bronars at Edgeworth Economics.