We have been following litigation in Pennsylvania challenging the use of payroll debit cards by employers to pay employees. In one such case, the Pennsylvania Superior Court recently ruled that an employer violated the Pennsylvania Wage Payment and Collection Law (WPCL) by requiring employees to accept their wages on a payroll debit card, rather than
Wage & Hour
Superior Court: Mandatory Use of Payroll Debit Cards Violates PA Law
By Adam R. Long on
Posted in Wage & Hour
As regular readers of our blog know, we have been following a pending class action lawsuit challenging a Pennsylvania employer’s use of payroll debit cards to pay its employees. There has been a key development in that case. The Pennsylvania Superior Court has issued a decision that affirmed that the employer at issue violated the…
Third Circuit Confirms Paid Meal Breaks Cannot Offset FLSA Overtime Liability
By Adam R. Long on
Posted in Wage & Hour
In a recent decision, the Third Circuit emphasized the need for employers to capture and compensate all hours worked by non-exempt employees, even if the employer pays the employees for break time that it could treat as non-compensable under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
New FLSA Regulations are Still on Track Despite House Vote
By Micah T. Saul on
Posted in Wage & Hour, Workplace Trends
On September 28, 2016, the United States House of Representatives passed a bill that would postpone implementation of the FLSA’s new salary threshold for “white-collar” overtime exemptions. As we noted earlier this month, the Department of Labor’s regulation will more than double the minimum weekly salary requirement to $913 and is set to take effect…
Reminder – New FLSA Overtime Regulations Take Effect December 1
By Adam R. Long on
Posted in Wage & Hour
The calendar (if not the weather) tells us that fall is almost here. With the change in seasons comes another reminder that the effective date of the U.S. Department of Labor’s new Fair Labor Standards Act “white-collar” overtime exemption regulations is fast approaching.
Effective December 1, new rules that more than double the minimum…
Wage and Hour Claims Surge in the Oil and Gas Industry
By Micah T. Saul on
Posted in Employer Liability, Wage & Hour
Since 2012, the United States Department of Labor (DOL) reports that it has recovered over $40 million in back wages for employees in the oil and gas industry. Employers in the industry can expect claims to rise as the DOL continues its enforcement initiatives. The leading cause of back pay awards? Worker misclassification. The DOL’s…
Coming This Spring . . . the New FLSA Overtime Regulations?
By Adam R. Long on
Posted in Wage & Hour
For what seems like an eternity, we have been waiting for the U.S. Department of Labor to issue the new Fair Labor Standards Act “white-collar” overtime exemption regulations. While many have speculated on when the final regulations would be issued, most assumed that the DOL would wait until the summer or fall of 2016 to…
#RaiseTheWage: Why is Voluntarily Raising the Minimum Wage Rate Trending Across the Country?
By Jennifer J. Walsh on
Posted in Wage & Hour
For employers covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), the debate in Congress over the minimum wage has been a hot button issue. Interestingly, 29 states in addition to Washington D.C., have already enacted legislation that imposes a minimum wage rate that is higher than the minimum wage under existing federal law. Pennsylvania is…
Beware Unpaid Rest Breaks for Non-Exempt Employees
By Adam R. Long on
Posted in Wage & Hour
A recent federal court decision in Pennsylvania affirmed the risks incurred by employers if they treat brief rest breaks as unpaid for non-exempt employees. In Perez v. American Future Systems, Inc. d/b/a Progressive Business Publications, the U.S. Department of Labor filed suit against the employer, a Pennsylvania publishing company, and its principal owner under…
UPDATE: Employee Tip Pooling – Don’t Say We Didn’t Warn You!
By Adam Santucci on
Posted in Wage & Hour
We have talked with you in the past about the risks of allowing employees to pool or share tips. This is a pretty common practice in the food service industry, but there can be concerns because of the complexity of compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act and state wage and hour laws. We…