Wage & Hour

  • May 15, 2025

    NC Judge Warns Of Airing 'Dirty Laundry' In Doctors' Pay Clash

    A North Carolina business court judge on Thursday told a group of anesthesiologists and their business partners to seriously consider mediating a dispute over compensation, cautioning that if they choose to litigate, they should "be prepared for their dirty laundry to be aired for everyone to see."

  • May 15, 2025

    Mass. Town's $102K Deal For Firefighters Gets Final OK

    A Massachusetts town will shell out about $102,000 to end claims that it failed to pay overtime to nearly 120 firefighters, as a federal court gave the deal its final sign-off Thursday.

  • May 15, 2025

    Farmworkers' Union Challenges H-2A Prevailing Wage Regs

    A farmworkers' union said that the U.S. Department of Labor's 2022 H-2A prevailing wage regulations cannot stand and could leave farmworkers without prevailing wage protections, urging a Washington federal court to grant the union a partial win.

  • May 15, 2025

    Sills Cummis Adds Employment Pro From Crowell & Moring

    Sills Cummis & Gross PC brought on a labor and employment attorney from Crowell & Moring LLP who brings more than two decades of experience to the firm's New York office advising employers on how to navigate disputes and ensure they comply with prevailing wage laws.

  • May 15, 2025

    Little Caesars Managers Get Collective Status In OT Suit

    Managers who worked for Little Caesars franchisees can pursue their lawsuit alleging they should have been eligible to earn overtime as a collective, a New York federal judge ruled Thursday, finding the workers showed they were all subject to the same policies.

  • May 15, 2025

    Workers Say Energy Co. Lacks Proof Of Their OT Exemption

    A collective of workers accusing an energy company of not paying them salaries and owing them overtime as a result told a Texas federal court their employer didn't support its arguments that the workers were exempt from overtime under federal wage law.

  • May 15, 2025

    Flooring Company Miscalculates Overtime, Ex-Manager Says

    A flooring and tile company failed to consider bonuses and incentive compensation it pays employees when calculating their overtime pay rates, a former manager alleged in a proposed class and collective action filed in New Jersey federal court.

  • May 15, 2025

    House Bill Aims To Nix FMLA Leave Cap For Married Couples

    A bipartisan group of U.S. House members floated a bill that aims to strike a provision from the Family and Medical Leave Act that limits leave for married couples who work for the same employer.

  • May 14, 2025

    7th Circ. Partially Revives Pregnancy Bias Suit Against Ill. DHS

    A Seventh Circuit panel on Wednesday partially reversed an Illinois federal court's decision giving the Illinois Department of Human Services a win on two former workers' claims of illegal pregnancy-related firings, saying that there are still open factual questions as to one worker.

  • May 14, 2025

    4 Tips For Navigating NY Pay Frequency Law Update

    New York’s frequency of pay law update means employers face a fraction of the potential damages they previously might have suffered for first violations, but it doesn’t let them off the hook in ongoing litigation or for second violations, attorneys said. Here, attorneys offer tips for handling the update.

  • May 14, 2025

    Farm Groups Fight Further Delay In H-2A Wage Rule Suit

    Farm groups on Wednesday countered the Trump administration's bid to further halt litigation challenging a Biden-era H-2A wage rule, telling a Florida federal judge there's no need to delay further for the U.S. Department of Labor to get familiarized with the case.

  • May 14, 2025

    Landlords Detail Policies To Cut After Trump Admin Ask

    Two trade groups for apartment owners requested that federal officials eliminate COVID-19-era eviction restrictions and a framework for accepting emotional support animals, as well as undo appliance efficiency standards, union wage rates and other policies the groups say are holding back multifamily development.

  • May 14, 2025

    Poultry Workers Seek $138M Atty Fees In Wage-Fixing Case

    Workers who reached settlements totaling nearly $400 million over claims that major poultry companies conspired to keep wages low at their plants have urged a Maryland federal court to approve around $138 million in attorney fees and costs, arguing the deal represents the "largest recovery" of its kind for low-wage workers.

  • May 14, 2025

    D'Oh! Kimberly-Clark Can't Keep Wage Suit In Federal Court

    A Pennsylvania federal judge invoked "The Simpsons" as he granted a Kimberly-Clark employee's request to ship his unpaid overtime proposed class action back to state court, saying the paper goods company is trying to "embiggen" the amount in controversy beyond what's feasible. 

  • May 14, 2025

    Ex-Paralegal's Bias Claims Still Thin, Pennsylvania Firm Says

    A former Zator Law LLC's paralegal's amended complaint claiming that the firm fired her on the basis of her panic disorder condition lacks specific details about her disability that would support her discrimination and retaliation claims, according to a motion to dismiss recently filed by Zator Law.

  • May 14, 2025

    4th Circ. Blocks Staffing Workers' Class Cert. Appeal

    The Fourth Circuit will not take up an appeal of staffing firm employees challenging a North Carolina federal court's order denying a class certification bid in their minimum wage suit.

  • May 14, 2025

    Fisher Phillips Opens Alabama Office With 6 Attorneys

    Employer-side labor law firm Fisher Phillips announced Tuesday the opening of a new six-attorney office in Birmingham, Alabama, its second office opening this month.

  • May 14, 2025

    Jewish Worker Says Charter Targeted Her For Flagging Pay

    Charter Communications questioned a Jewish worker's faith after she took time off to treat a kidney infection and threatened to fire her after she fixed workers' time cards to ensure they were paid for all their hours, she alleged in a complaint filed in New York federal court.

  • May 13, 2025

    Ex-Twitter Staff Move To Force Musk's X Corp. Into Arbitration

    Laid-off Twitter Inc. employees in Washington state asked a federal judge to make their ex-employer arbitrate claims that it stiffed them on severance and bonuses, saying the company now known as X Corp. has "refused to proceed with arbitration, despite having successfully blocked employees from pursuing their claims in court."

  • May 13, 2025

    NY Late Pay Suit Against Southwest Will Stay Grounded

    A New York federal judge on Tuesday declined to reconsider its decision to keep standing a suit in which baggage and cargo handlers claimed Southwest Airlines paid them late, saying the airline is trying to introduce new, meritless arguments.

  • May 13, 2025

    11th Circ. Backs Paper Co. Win In Worker's Equal Pay Suit

    An environmental engineer who accused her former employer of paying her less than men cannot get a new trial, the Eleventh Circuit ruled Tuesday, saying the lower court's decision to exclude certain evidence was harmless.

  • May 13, 2025

    Petroleum Cos. Score Initial OK For $7M Wage Deal

    An oil refiner and related companies will shell out $7.2 million to put to rest a 2,200-member class action accusing them of not providing unionized workers with rest breaks and not paying minimum wage, after a California federal judge signed off on the deal.

  • May 13, 2025

    Democracy Forward Picks Up 4 More Ex-DOJ Attys

    The legal advocacy group Democracy Forward has brought on four former U.S. Department of Justice litigators, adding to a string of hires the organization has made from the federal government as it takes on the Trump administration in court.

  • May 13, 2025

    Former X Exec Can Drop His Bonus Suit, Avoiding Sanctions

    A former X Corp. executive can drop his suit accusing the social media company of failing to pay out bonuses after Elon Musk took over, a California federal judge ruled, rejecting the company's bid to sanction him for knowing his case was baseless from the start.

  • May 13, 2025

    Cleaning Co. Paying $1M To Resolve Mass. Wage Claims

    A Massachusetts commercial cleaning company has agreed to pay nearly $1 million in penalties and restitution for violating the state's wage and hour laws, the Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General announced Tuesday.

Expert Analysis

  • Employer Tips For Fighting Back Against Explosive Verdicts

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    Massive jury verdicts are a product of our time, driven in part by reptile tactics, but employers can build a strategic defense to mitigate the risk of a runaway jury, and develop tools to seek judicial relief in the event of an adverse outcome, say Dawn Solowey and Lynn Kappelman at Seyfarth.

  • Calif. PAGA Ruling Not A Total Loss For Employer Arbitration

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    Contrary to the conclusion reached in a recent Law360 guest article, the California Supreme Court’s ruling in Adolph v. Uber Technologies did not diminish the benefit of arbitrating employees’ individual Private Attorneys General Act claims, as the very limited ruling does not undermine U.S. Supreme Court precedent, says Steven Katz at Constangy.

  • Handbook Hot Topics: Changing Status Quo In A Union Shop

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    A recent administrative law decision concerning a dispute between Fortune Media and the NewsGuild of New York is an important reminder to employers with unionized workforces to refrain from making unilateral updates to employee handbooks that will change the terms and conditions of employment, says Jennifer Hataway at Butler Snow.

  • Eye On Compliance: A Shift In Religious Accommodation Law

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    The recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Groff v. DeJoy is making it more difficult for employers to deny religious accommodations, and there are three takeaways employers should keep in mind, say William Cook and Matthew High at Wilson Elser.

  • FLSA Collective Actions: Are Courts Still Dancing The 2-Step?

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    In the absence of amendments to the Fair Labor Standards Act, courts have filled in some of the statute's gaps and established a two-step framework for conditional certification of a class, but recent rulings show signs that courts are ready to hold party plaintiffs to a higher standard if they want to recruit others to join their lawsuits, says Allison Powers at Barack Ferrazzano.

  • Calif. PAGA Ruling Devalues Arbitration For Employers

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    The California Supreme Court’s recent opinion in Adolph v. Uber may lessen employers' appetites for arbitration under the state’s Private Attorneys General Act, because arbitrating an allegedly aggrieved employee’s individual claims is unlikely to dispose of their nonindividual claims, say attorneys at Greenberg Traurig.

  • Understanding Illinois' Temp Worker Obligation Updates

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    Recent amendments to the Illinois Day and Temporary Labor Services Act would significantly expand the protection for temporary workers in the state, impose new compliance obligations on staffing agencies and their client companies, and add significant enforcement teeth to the act, say Nicholas Anaclerio and Ellie Hemminger at Vedder Price.

  • How End Of Forced Arb. Is Affecting Sex Harassment Cases

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    A little over a year after the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault Act became effective, we have started seeing substantive interpretation of the EFAA, almost exclusively from the U.S. district courts in New York, and there are two key takeaways for employers, says Lisa Haldar at Lawrence & Bundy.

  • The Differing Court Approaches To Pay Equity Questions

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    Employers face the tough task of navigating an increasingly complex patchwork of pay equity laws and court interpretations, say attorneys at Hunton.

  • Calif. Whistleblower Decision Signals Change For Employers

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    Because the California Supreme Court's recent The People v. Kolla's decision significantly expands employee whistleblower protections, employers should ensure that internal reporting procedures clearly communicate the appropriate methods of reporting and elevating suspected violations of law, say Alison Tsao and Sophia Jimenez at CDF Labor Law.

  • Pay Transparency And ESG Synergy Can Inform Initiatives

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    The proliferation of pay transparency laws and ESG initiatives has created unique opportunities for companies to comply with the challenging laws while furthering their social aims, says Kelly Cardin at Ogletree.

  • Eye On Compliance: An NLRB Primer For Private Employers

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    Many employers, especially those with nonunionized workforces, may not realize they are subject to federal labor law, but with a recent flurry of precedent-changing rulings from the National Labor Relations, understanding how to comply with the National Labor Relations Act may now be more important than ever, says Bruno Katz at Wilson Elser.

  • RETRACTED: How New Prevailing Wage Rule May Affect H-1B Employment

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    Editor's note: This guest article has been removed due to an inaccurate discussion of the status of the U.S. Department of Labor's prevailing wage rule, "Strengthening Wage Protections for the Temporary and Permanent Employment of Certain Aliens in the United States." The rule is no longer on the Biden administration's current rulemaking agenda.