flsa 71 articles

A proposed change in federal labor laws could expand overtime eligibility to more than 1 million salaried workers in the U.S. The U.S. Department of Labor proposed raising the overtime threshold to most salaried workers earning an annual salary of $35,308 or $679 per week so that employees making less than that amount would be eligible for time-and-a-half pay for any hours over 40 worked per week. Currently, the overtime threshold sits at $23,660 or $455 per week, so anyone making more than that isn’t eligible for overtime pay. The government set the current overtime threshold 15 years ago. The ... Read More

If U.S. labor officials have their way, 16- and 17-year old teenagers will soon be allowed to operate powered patient lifts in hospitals, nursing homes, rehabilitation clinics, and other facilities. The U.S. Department of Labor has proposed rolling back youth-employment provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) mandating that patient power lifts be operated by employees ages 18 and older. The proposed rule, published in the Sept. 27 Federal Register, would change the FLSA’s Hazardous Occupations Orders under to exempt powered patient lifts, effectively allowing all employees to operate the devices regardless of age. Powered patient lifts are devices ... Read More

A number of U.S. senators have sent a letter to the Department of Labor (DOL) Secretary Tom Perez, as well as Wage and Hour Division Administrator David Weil, to request that the agency investigate the recent Wells Fargo fraud scheme and whether the company violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) in respect to several thousand of its employees. The letter, penned by Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), explains how the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)’s groundbreaking investigation revealed how ... Read More

California farmers are known for being some of the largest exporters of produce in the nation and now state lawmakers have passed an overtime pay bill to ensure these farmers are paid in accordance to their grueling labor. The overtime bill, if passed by the governor, would make California the first state to require the agricultural industry to meet Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) standards already adhered to by most other industries. The new overtime law, which passed by a 44-32 vote, would take action in 2019 by gradually expanding overtime pay to all of California’s estimated 825,000 farm laborers. ... Read More

The U.S. Department of Labor said it has entered into an agreement with a suburban Washington D.C., restaurant requiring its owners and managers to stop intimidating or retaliating against employees who cooperate with a Labor Department investigation and ongoing litigation involving Fair Labor Standard Act (FLSA) violations. The Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division started an investigation of alleged labor violations at Aroma Indian Cuisine in Arlington, Va., in August 2013. The investigation uncovered numerous FLSA violations, and the Labor Department subsequently filed suit to enforce federal regulations. “Our investigation concluded, and our suit alleges, that the owners failed to ... Read More

A Savannah, Ga., motor vehicle shipping facility’s disregard for federal labor laws resulted in the tragic death of a 17-year-old worker who was crushed by a car that had fallen off a hydraulic lift. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Marco Rosales, and employee of Cars Loading LLC, was crushed to death on Nov. 30, 2015, when a sedan he was working on fell off of a hydraulic lift. Rosales was found pinned between the vehicle and the vertical arm of the lift. Cars Loading contracts with customers who need to have their vehicles shipped overseas. The firm completes ... Read More

Angie’s List, the crowd-based review site for local businesses, is being taken to court by former employees claiming the company withheld overtime pay and, in several incidents, requested employees not report overtime hours. According to the federal lawsuits being weighed against the company, many employees were forced to work under very aggressive sales goals, some of which would require employees to sell a high amount in advertising, said Indianapolis lawyer Kathleen Delaney. Delaney is currently representing 17 of Angie’s List past employees, all of whom claim to have been trained to do “whatever it takes” to meet their aggressive goals, despite ... Read More

Popular vitamin and health supplement retailer GNC, as well as an 8,000-member class of its current and former employees, is requesting a California federal court to approve a $9 million settlement, putting an end to allegations stating the company violated federal wage and labor laws. The settlement agreement also includes additional costs up to $20,000 for disbursing the settlement payment to the class members, thus ending “all issues in the pending litigation.” Upon being certified in late 2014, the class action claimed GNC was responsible for breaking several labor and wage laws, ranging from failing to provide meal breaks and ... Read More

A Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) class action against financial media giant Bloomberg settled this week for a total of $3.2 million, allowing its employees that did not receive overtime pay in the past to receive due compensation. Common protocol within the FLSA allows employees working in excess of 40 hours a week to earn time-and-a-half. According to plaintiff Shervez Jackson, a Bloomberg employee from 2008 until 2010 working in customer service, the company typically required her to work 10 additional hours than what she was being compensated for. The complaint alleged Bloomberg also expected Jackson to arrive at work early, ... Read More

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), established in 1938, set out to provide U.S. workers with minimum wage, recordkeeping policies and even youth employment standards for full-time and part-time workers within the private sector. Overtime pay is one of the most quintessential benefits provided by the FLSA considering the importance that overworked employees are recognized and compensated for laboring longer than recommended by law. However, not all employees are eligible to receive overtime pay due to past restrictions. Now, lawmakers are challenging this statute in hopes of helping millions of Americans working long hours without fair pay. U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren ... Read More