Recently, Andrew L. Levy, Esq., a Member in McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC’s Labor and Employment Law Practice Group published an article titled: Truck Drivers Hauling Material Between a Turnpike Construction Site and a Borrow Pit Adjacent to the Project Are Entitled to be Paid the Prevailing Wage.
The article, which can be accessed by clicking
The year 2011 saw a number of employee-friendly changes to the laws governing the workplace. And Pennsylvania courts have not shied away from the action. In 2011, a Pennsylvania court upheld one of the largest awards in a wage and hour class action in the state’s history. In Braun v. Wal-Mart, the court awarded $187.6 million in back wages, damages, and fees to employees of Wal-Mart stores throughout Pennsylvania for paid rest breaks they were not permitted to take. Approximately 187,000 current and former hourly Wal-Mart employees claimed that the employee handbook promised paid rest breaks, but they were forced to work during those breaks and were not compensated for the missed breaks.
The employees brought their claims under Pennsylvania’s Wage Payment and Collection Law (WPCL). The WPCL does not entitle employees to wages or fringe benefits, but rather provides a remedy when an employer fails to pay for wages or benefits due under the terms of a contract or agreement. According to the court in Braun, payment associated with paid rest breaks pursuant to a contractual agreement between an employer and employee constitutes wages as that term is broadly defined in the WPCL. And the court ultimately found such a contractual agreement for paid rest breaks under the facts before it.
Continue Reading Pennsylvania Court Finds Employee Handbook Creates Contract, Upholds $187.6 Million Award
This post was contributed by Tony D. Dick Esq., an Associate and a member of McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC’s Labor and Employment Practice Group in Columbus, Ohio.
In a 6-2 decision, the United States Supreme Court recently ruled in Kasten v. Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Corp., ___ U.S. ___, No. 09-834 (2011) (pdf)
This post was contributed by Eric N. Athey, Esq., a Member in McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC’s Labor and Employment Law Practice Group.
Over the past several years, federal courts across the United States have experienced a surge in class action lawsuits alleging wage and hour violations by employers. In many of these
On May 3, 2010, we posted information about what was then a little known provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) (pdf): the requirement that employers provide reasonable unpaid breaks for nursing mothers to express breast milk. Recently, the Department of Labor issued Fact Sheet #73: Break Time for Nursing Mothers under the
Yes, that is right, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R. 3590) (pdf), signed into law on March 23, 2010, amended the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to require employers to provide reasonable unpaid breaks to nursing mothers. Previously, the FLSA did not require that employers provide breaks, but now employers must provide
Recently, the District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania delivered some potentially bad news to Pennsylvania employers. In Truman v. DeWolff, Boberg & Associates, Inc., the Court held that an employee may be entitled to overtime payments for time worked in foreign countries under the Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act and the Pennsylvania Wage Payment
The Prohibition on Excessive Overtime in Health Care Act (Act 102) became effective on July 1, 2009. Health care facilities covered by the law include hospitals, ASCs, hospices, long-term care facilities and other inpatient facilities, but it excludes private physician offices and group practices. Employees protected by the law include all nonsupervisory employees involved in
The Gosselin Family, which has been the center of a media attention in recent weeks, is reportedly under investigation by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry for child labor law violations stemming from their children’s appearance on the reality TV show "Jon & Kate Plus 8". Much of the reality show is
Representative DeLauro introduced the Healthy Families Act (H.R. 2460) which would require businesses with 15 or more employees to provide up to seven days of annual paid sick leave. The paid leave could be taken to attend to an employee’s own or a family member’s illness, or used for preventative care such as