Authored by Alex Passantino

On June 7, Department of Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta announced the withdrawal of the DOLs 2015 and 2016 Administrator Interpretations (AIs) on joint employment and independent contractors. These documents were statements of the Wage & Hour Division’s interpretations of the FLSAs (and Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection
Continue Reading DOL Withdraws Guidance on Joint Employment, Independent Contractors

driving car on highway, close up of hands on steering wheel

Co-authored by Gerald L. Maatman, Jr., Gina Merrill, Brendan Sweeney, and Mark W. Wallin

Seyfarth Synopsis: A New York federal court in Durling, et al. v. Papa John’s International, Inc., Case No. 7:16-CV-03592 (CS) (JCM) (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 29, 2017), recently denied Plaintiffs’ motion for conditional certification of a nationwide collective action in an FLSA minimum wage action
Continue Reading New York Court Delivers Denial Of Certification In Papa John’s Drivers’ Class Action

Co-authored by Julie Yap and Billie Pierce

Seyfarth Synopsis: A federal court in California recently held that a franchisor cannot be held liable for labor code claims where it did not exercise control directly, or through an actual agency relationship with the employer, over the terms and conditions of the workers’ employment. The decision limits claims against independent businesses based
Continue Reading Federal Court Serves Up Satisfying Seconds For California Franchisors: No Ostensible Agency Liability For Franchisees’ Alleged Labor Code Violations

Authored by Brett Bartlett

Seyfarth Synopsis: The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals recently set forth a new standard for determining whether two or more businesses may be held responsible as joint employers for overtime pay due to a single worker because they are joint employers. Although more expansive than other courts’ standards — and even more so than former Wage
Continue Reading Wait! Did the Fourth Circuit Just Define FLSA Joint Employment More Broadly Than Obama’s DOL?

Authored by Gerald Maatman, Jr. 

Seyfarth Synopsis: Workplace class action filings were flat overall and even decreased as compared to levels in 2015. However, that is apt to change in 2017. In the 4th in a series of blog postings on workplace class action trends, we examine what employers are likely to see in 2017.

Introduction

Overall complex employment-related litigation
Continue Reading What 2016 Workplace Class Actions Filings Suggest Employers Are Apt To Face In 2017

SDFLAuthored by Christopher Kelleher and Noah Finkel

Seyfarth Synopsis: Federal court denies motion for conditional certification for a proposed class of employees working at separate Subway franchises.

Earlier this year, the DOL’s Wage-Hour Division issued a much-publicized Administrator Interpretation on what employers constitute joint employers, including an explanation of how two or more employers under common ownership can constitute
Continue Reading A Fresh Take on the Horizontal Joint Employment Theory: Conditional Certification for Subway Employees Denied

Authored by Alex Passantino

The President’s FY2017 budget request seeks a nearly $50 million increase in the Wage & Hour Division’s budget.  This more than 20% increase would fund, among other things, 300 additional investigative staff — putting the number of WHD employees over 2,000 for the first time in recent memory.  WHD also seeks around $9 million for
Continue Reading One Last Time: President Seeks Huge Increase to WHD Budget, Investigators

Co-authored by Brett Bartlett and Kevin Young

As we predicted, the federal Wage and Hour Division has issued another edict that will have far-ranging effects on businesses across the U.S. economy, specifically those sharing employees with related operations or relying on third parties to perform or staff services that their own employees would otherwise carry out. On Wednesday, the
Continue Reading WHD Issues Another Momentous Interpretation, Mapping Joint Employer Status on Horizontal and Vertical Planes

Authored by Alex Passantino

‘Twas the week before Christmas, 2-0-1-5
When the poetry elves on the blog came alive.
Crafting their rhymes with a purpose so clear:
Presenting the wage-hour gems of the year.

In January, for new regs in this year our breath bated.
Then for six painful months, we speculated and waited.
And just as
Continue Reading I’m Dreaming of a White Collar: 2015 Year in Review

Co-authored by Richard Alfred and Patrick Bannon

The National Labor Relations Board’s decision in Browning-Ferris Industries of California, Inc., announced last week, dramatically expands joint employer liability under the National Labor Relations Act. A business can be found to be a joint employer of individuals, the Board concluded, even if the business has only unexercised potential power to control
Continue Reading What the Browning-Ferris Decision May Forecast for Wage and Hour Law