Wage & Hour

Expert Analysis

• Next Steps For Employers After Calif. Break Premium Ruling

  

  California employers will need to take prompt action to address the logistical complications and potential liability resulting from the California Supreme Court’s recent retroactive decision in Ferra v. Loews Hollywood Hotel, holding that break periods must be compensated at employees’ regular rate of pay, says Penny Chen Fox at K&L Gates.

• Tackling Timekeeping Issues In Hybrid Remote Work Models

  

  Businesses that are deciding whether to continue hybrid or fully remote work arrangements post-pandemic will have to consider certain wage and hour issues that affect nonexempt employees — namely, how to adopt a streamlined and regimented time-tracking process, say Kevin Sullivan and Jeffrey Ruzal at Epstein Becker.

• Colo. Equal Pay Law Is Raising Job Post Hurdles Nationwide

  

  Because a compensation disclosure requirement in Colorado’s new equal pay law also applies to businesses outside of the state with potential to hire remote workers who reside there, employers may want to consider several options to avoid compromising their proprietary payment schemes or methodologies in job ads, says Jonathan Israel at Foley & Lardner.

• FTC Should Take Nuanced Approach On Noncompete Regs

  

  In response to President Joe Biden’s recent executive order encouraging the Federal Trade Commission to regulate employer noncompete agreements, the agency should approach potential rulemaking with restraint by focusing on fair and transparent use of such agreements, says Russell Beck at Beck Reed.

• What Cartel Enforcement Under Biden's DOJ Might Look Like

  

  While President Joe Biden did not mention cartel enforcement in his recent competition executive order and has yet to appoint a new leader for the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division, policies from previous administrations may provide insight on where enforcement initiatives are headed, say attorneys at Hunton.

• How FTC Could Regulate Noncompetes After Biden's Order

  

  If the Federal Trade Commission follows the noncompete guidelines in President Joe Biden’s recent executive order, federal regulation of such agreements will likely end up somewhere between tight restrictions and an outright ban, say attorneys at Mintz.

• 3 Keys To Winning Your Next Oral Argument

  

  To leverage the unique opportunity oral arguments provide to talk directly to judges and contribute to their decision making, attorneys must mind the three hallmarks of persuasiveness: projecting credibility, exuding likability and gaining the listener's trust, says Daniel Karon at Karon LLC.

• High Court NCAA Antitrust Ruling Will Not Help Naomi Osaka

  

  Although the U.S. Supreme Court's recent NCAA v. Alston decision, that restrictions on student-athlete compensation violate antitrust laws, might enable tennis player Naomi Osaka to challenge professional women's tennis's post-match interview rule, a closer examination suggests that this theoretical antitrust claim would fail, says Jack Lerner at Levin & Glasser.

• Old OT Rule Method Would Burden Cos. In Low-Wage States

  

  If the current U.S. Department of Labor uses the Obama administration’s methodology to increase the salary threshold under which salaried workers can claim overtime, regional pay variations will be ignored and businesses in lower-wage states will face disproportionate costs and inconvenience, says Stephen Bronars at Edgeworth Economics.

• Tip Payment Landscape Sows Confusion For Hospitality Cos.

  

  A recent proposal from the U.S. Department of Labor that would limit employers' ability to pay a lower minimum wage to tip-earning workers, as well as a restaurant chain’s recent settlement concerning allegations related to tip pooling, shows how new and old labor rules may create confusion and hamper the hospitality industry’s recovery from the pandemic, say Heather Bailey and Sara Zorich at SmithAmundsen.

• 10 Years Of Dukes

  

  In Wal-Mart Stores v. Dukes, the U.S. Supreme Court in 2011 decertified a nationwide class of female Walmart workers who alleged pay and promotion bias under Title VII. In this Expert Analysis series, the attorneys who represented each side before the justices discuss the landmark decision's effect on the class action landscape.

• 10 Years Of Dukes: A Resounding Class Certification Legacy

  

  Gibson Dunn’s Theodore Boutrous and Theane Evangelis, who represented Walmart in Wal-Mart Stores v. Dukes, discuss how the U.S. Supreme Court’s 10-year-old class decertification decision has reverberated through a series of important high court rulings and ensured that class treatment is reserved for the right cases.

• Employers Must Brace For PAGA-Like Bills Across US

  

  As state legislatures across the U.S. consider bills modeled after California’s lucrative Private Attorneys General Act, employers should gear up for potential litigative burdens, work to mitigate liability risks and get involved in the legislative process, say attorneys at Greenberg Traurig.