Wage & Hour

  • February 28, 2025

    8th Circ. Backs Auto Co. Exec's Win In $5M Benefits Suit

    The Eighth Circuit declined Friday to overturn a former chief operating officer's win in his lawsuit accusing an automotive company of reneging on the terms of his deferred compensation plan when he left the firm, saying the company can't rely on nonexistent documents to deny his claim to the funds.

  • February 28, 2025

    Steakhouse Workers Score Collective Cert. In Tips Row

    Servers and bartenders claiming that a steakhouse known for its 72-ounce steak challenge cheated them out of tips and didn't reimburse them for their uniforms can move forward as a collective, a Texas federal judge ruled, while saying the limitation period clock will start ticking later.

  • February 28, 2025

    Calif. Restaurant Faces $1.1M In Penalties Over Unpaid Wages

    The California Labor Commissioner's Office hit a restaurant with more than $1.1 million in penalties over unpaid wages and violations of paid sick leave, including supplemental leave during the coronavirus pandemic, the office said.

  • February 28, 2025

    DOL Will Appeal Texas Court's Toss Of OT Threshold Rule

    The U.S. Department of Labor on Friday told a Texas federal court that it planned to appeal to the Fifth Circuit the court's decision to vacate the department's overtime rule raising the salary thresholds for overtime exemptions.

  • February 28, 2025

    Colo. Corrections Dept. Says No Pay Needed For On-Call Time

    A collective action accusing the Colorado Department of Corrections of failing to pay criminal investigators for time they spent on call should be thrown out, the department told a federal court, saying the workers weren't barred from doing personal activities during this time and thus aren't owed any extra wages.

  • February 28, 2025

    Calif. Forecast: 9th Circ. Hears NLRB, UPS, Teamsters Dispute

    In the coming week, attorneys should watch for Ninth Circuit oral arguments in a labor dispute involving the National Labor Relations Board, a UPS subsidiary and an International Brotherhood of Teamsters local. Here's a look at that case and other labor and employment matters on deck in California.

  • February 28, 2025

    Residential Care Cos. To Pay $2.5M In DOL Overtime Suit

    A group of California residential care facility operators admitted to failing to pay caregivers for the overtime they worked and will pay $2.5 million in back wages and damages under a deal with the U.S. Department of Labor that got approved by a federal judge.

  • February 28, 2025

    Logistics Co. Can Arbitrate Most Claims In Wage Dispute

    A California federal judge partially granted a logistics company's bid to send to arbitration a former worker's wage and hour lawsuit, saying some of the worker's claims must stay in court because they are exempted from state arbitration laws.

  • February 28, 2025

    Trump Admin's NIL Guidance Isn't Law, But Is A Title IX Threat

    When President Donald Trump's U.S. Department of Education recently rescinded late Biden-era guidance instructing that upcoming revenue distribution to college athletes should follow Title IX laws protecting equal opportunity for women, legal experts told Law360 it came as little surprise — but also carried very little legitimate legal force.

  • February 27, 2025

    5th Circ. Won't Revive Sheriff's Workers' Leave Policy Suit

    The Fifth Circuit declined Thursday to reinstate a lawsuit employees brought against the Harris County Sheriff's Office over a policy restricting how they can use the compensatory time off they receive in lieu of overtime wages, saying the workers cannot show they have a property interest to the accrued time.

  • February 27, 2025

    Unions Can Depose DOGE In Agency Access Suit, Judge Says

    The Department of Government Efficiency must tell a group of unions whom it's sent into the Department of Labor, the Department of Health & Human Services and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and what computer systems they've accessed, a D.C. federal judge ruled Thursday.

  • February 27, 2025

    DOL Watchdog Asks To Ensure Wages Are In H-2A Certs

    The office in charge of reviewing H-2A applications for foreign workers should boost its procedures to make sure the requests have the correct prevailing wage rates, the U.S. Department of Labor's agency watchdog said in an audit report publicly released Thursday.

  • February 27, 2025

    Drivers' Calif. Wage And Hour Suit Belongs In State Court

    A California federal court ruled it had no jurisdiction over a suit by two drivers lodging wage and hour claims under state law against a food distributor, allowing the case to be refiled in state court.

  • February 27, 2025

    Ex-Worker Says Manufacturer Fails To Pay For Off-Clock Work

    A pharmaceutical manufacturing company requires hourly employees to perform tasks before and after their shifts but fails to compensate them for this extra time, a proposed class and collective action filed in Washington federal court said.

  • February 27, 2025

    DOL Pick Faces Scrutiny About DOGE From Senate Dems

    President Donald Trump's nominee for deputy labor secretary faced intense questioning about "the sheer incompetence" of the administration's actions in what otherwise might have been expected to be a less controversial U.S. Senate confirmation hearing Thursday.

  • February 27, 2025

    Calif. Panel Won't Send Class Wage Suit To Arbitration

    A California appeals court refused to overturn an order declining to send to arbitration a sanitation worker's wage and hour suit against his former employer, saying his Private Attorneys General Act claims were brought only on behalf of a class and therefore the case can stay in court.

  • February 27, 2025

    Construction Co. To Pay $432K To End Calif. Wage Suit

    A general contractor will pay nearly $432,000 to dozens of carpenters to put an end to an investigation the California Labor Commissioner's Office launched into its pay practices, the office said.

  • February 27, 2025

    Former Seyfarth Partner To Chair DOL's Review Board

    The U.S. Department of Labor tapped a former Seyfarth Shaw LLP partner with more than 25 years of experience on employment and immigration law to be chair of the Administrative Review Board.

  • February 27, 2025

    US Senate Panel Advances Trump's Labor Secretary Pick

    A U.S. Senate committee voted Thursday to move forward the nomination of former Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer to lead the U.S. Department of Labor.

  • February 26, 2025

    Judge Sends Fox Sports Harassment Suit Back To State Court

    A U.S. district judge has sent a lawsuit accusing Fox Sports and its on-air talent of sexual harassment back to California state court after the plaintiff dropped allegations related to overtime, removing the suit's only federal claim.

  • February 26, 2025

    MSPB Pauses Firing Of 6 Probationary Fed Employees

    The Merit Systems Protection Board paused the Trump administration's attempt to fire six federal workers on probationary status, saying the U.S. Office of Special Counsel showed it was likely the firings violated civil service laws that require the government to undertake reductions in force based on merit.

  • February 26, 2025

    3rd Circ. Won't Rethink DOL's $7M Win In Travel Pay Suit

    The Third Circuit won't touch its decision affirming the U.S. Department of Labor's $7 million win in a lawsuit accusing a Pennsylvania home care company of failing to pay workers for time spent traveling between clients' homes, rejecting the employer's argument that the decision allows for federal agency overreach.

  • February 26, 2025

    Worker Says Fla. Gun Co. Owes Him Pay For 370 Hours Of OT

    A former gun manufacturing employee for a Florida company said in a lawsuit in federal court that the gun parts he handled traveled across state lines, making him eligible under federal law to receive pay for 370 hours of overtime he worked.

  • February 26, 2025

    Top Dem Urges Trump To Leave Independent Agencies Alone

    The top Democrat on the House Administration Committee urged President Donald Trump on Wednesday to rescind his executive order seeking to assert more control over independent agencies, which the congressman says is an "unprecedented violation" of law.

  • February 26, 2025

    Ill. Department Owes Teamsters Local $4.5M In Wage Deal

    The operational head of Illinois' state departments will pay $4.5 million to 500 workers for failing to pay them their wages negotiated in a collective bargaining agreement, a Teamsters local said in a news release Wednesday.

Expert Analysis

  • The 7th Circ.'s Top 10 Civil Opinions Of 2022

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    Attorneys at Jenner & Block examine the most significant decisions issued by the Seventh Circuit in 2022, and explain how they may affect issues related to antitrust, the False Claims Act,​ ​federal jurisdiction and more.

  • 5 Recruiting Trends Shaping Employment Law's New Frontier

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    As remote recruiting comes under more legal scrutiny at the state and local level, U.S. employers should mitigate risk by practicing pay transparency, developing compliant background check processes, training managers on proper data storage, and more, say Jessica Shpall Rosen and Kevin Doherty at Greenwald Doherty.

  • Independent Contractor Laws Are Ignoring Economy's Evolution

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    Over the last year, federal and state approaches to independent contractor classification have demonstrated an inability to adjust to changes in the economy — save for a 12-factor test proposed in New York City, which would have balanced gig economy prosperity and worker protections, say attorneys at Greenberg Traurig.

  • How To Navigate New State Pay Transparency Laws In 2023

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    A recent wave of state pay transparency laws has confused many employers about how to recruit across state lines, so companies may consider overhauling recruiting practices, standardizing job postings and including hourly wage or salary ranges for all positions, say Sara Higgins and Michael Ryan at Foley & Lardner.

  • Wage Transparency Laws Create Labor Cert. Hurdles

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    A business-as-usual approach to labor certification amid the influx of new wage transparency laws in different jurisdictions is untenable, especially for employers with liberal remote work options and locations in numerous states, say Eleanor Pelta and Whitney Lohr at Morgan Lewis.

  • Key Calif. Law Changes Employers Should Know This Year

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    With many of the California employment laws passed last year already in effect, now is the time for companies to update their handbooks and policies regarding off-work cannabis use, reproductive health protections, pay data reporting and more, say Lisa Reimbold and Monique Eginli at Clark Hill.

  • Top 10 Employer Resolutions For 2023

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    A recent wave of pivotal judicial, legislative and executive actions has placed an even greater responsibility on employers to reevaluate existing protocols, examine fundamental aspects of culture and employee relations, and update policies and guidelines to ensure continued compliance with the law, say Allegra Lawrence-Hardy and Bria Stephens at Lawrence & Bundy.

  • Preparing For Potential Changes To DOL's Overtime Rules

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    While the U.S. Department of Labor is still reviewing employer exemptions from Fair Labor Standards Act wage and overtime requirements, and it is difficult to predict changes the department may ultimately propose, there are a few steps that employers can take now, say Juan Enjamio and Daniel Butler at Hunton.

  • Cost-Splitting Arbitration Clauses Threaten Workers' Rights

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    A recent Law360 guest article offered employers a guide to enforcing cost-splitting arbitration provisions in employment contracts but failed to recognize that these steps deter employees from asserting statutory claims for employment law violations, says Hugh Baran at Kakalec Law.

  • Pa.'s Changing Employment Laws In 2022 And Beyond

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    With pandemic concerns no longer drowning out other topics in Pennsylvania employment law, 2022 instead saw a variety of worker-friendly changes introduced at the state and local levels, a trend that may continue to grow in 2023 under Gov.-elect Josh Shapiro, say J.T. Holt and Claire Throckmorton at Reed Smith.

  • Musician Classification Pointers For Wash. Hospitality Cos.

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    Following a recent increase in audits by the Washington State Employment Security Department concerning hospitality employers’ classification of musical performers, businesses are strongly encouraged to assess state law requirements governing their relationship with hired talent and ensure written contracts are in place, say Emily Bushaw and Shannon McDermott at Perkins Coie.

  • Employer Ramifications From Wash. Prevailing Wage Ruling

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    After the Washington Supreme Court's recent ruling in Associated General Contractors v. Washington that altered how prevailing wage rates are set, employers of public works projects can expect to see higher wage rates for their employees, say Cassidy Ingram and Brett Hill at Ahlers Cressman.

  • In 2023, Pursue The 'Why' Behind Employment Compliance

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    As employers approach new compliance requirements that will take effect on Jan.1, considering why these laws and regulations were put in place — rather than what must be done to satisfy them — can open greater opportunities to move ahead of the curve and align actions with company values and culture, says Christopher Ward at Foley & Lardner.