By: Noah A. Finkel, David S. Baffa, Daniel C. Whang, and Andrew L. Scroggins
Seyfarth Synopsis: In one of the most significant employment cases in memory, a sharply divided United States Supreme Court held today that employers may require employees, as a condition of employment, to enter into arbitration agreements that contain waivers of the ability to
Continue Reading A Class Waiver Can Be A Condition of Employment
By: John Phillips and Steve Shardonofsky
Seyfarth Synopsis: In an important decision for employers seeking to enforce arbitration agreements and limit wage and hour exposure and related defense costs, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reaffirmed that district courts should rule on motions to compel arbitration and related jurisdictional questions before reaching issues on FLSA conditional certification.
Continue Reading Fifth Circuit Keeps the Horse Before the Cart: Arbitration to be Decided Before Conditional Certification
By: Ariel D. Fenster & Rashal G. Baz
Seyfarth Synopsis: In a first impression case, the Eleventh Circuit held that an “opt-in” plaintiff is only required to file a written consent to become a party-plaintiff in a collective action under the FLSA, and that the lack of conditional certification does not affect that status.
At or within a few weeks
Continue Reading Party On! The 11th Circuit Holds Filing a Written Consent is Enough For Opt-in Plaintiffs To Achieve Party Status
By: Robert S. Whitman and Howard M. Wexler
Seyfarth Synopsis: The U.S. Department of Labor has announced the launch of the Payroll Audit Independent Determination program—or “PAID”— to facilitate the resolution of overtime and minimum wage claims under the FLSA without litigation. New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman recently called PAID “nothing more than a Get Out of Jail
Continue Reading NY Attorney General “PAID” Lip Service to DOL Initiative
Authored by Colton Long and Noah Finkel
Seyfarth Synopsis: Employers seeking to show that they correctly have classified an employee as exempt from the FLSA’s overtime requirements often have faced hostility from courts under the misimpression that FLSA exemptions must be “construed narrowly.” Today the United Supreme Court put to rest the “narrow construction” doctrine, signaling to district and appellate
Continue Reading Encino Motorcars, LLC v. Navarro: SCOTUS Puts The Brakes On Faulty FLSA Construction Language
By: Kyle Petersen and Ariel Fenster
Seyfarth Synopsis: A recent decision by the Southern District of New York clarifies common questions arising from the use of the fixed salary for a fluctuating workweek method of compensation (the “FWW”): (1) Do isolated pay deductions undermine the fixed salary requirement; (2) Must the employee’s hours fluctuate above and below 40 hours; and
Continue Reading Fixed Salaries, Fluctuating Hours, and Beyond: A Federal Court Addresses Common Questions About the Fluctuating Work Week Method of Compensation
By: Joshua A. Rodine and Christopher J. Truxler
Seyfarth Synopsis: California employers must use the formula prescribed by the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement Manual to calculate overtime on flat sum bonuses, not the bonus overtime formula used under federal law.
California law generally follows federal law as to how employers should calculate overtime pay on nondiscretionary bonuses for non-exempt
Continue Reading Federal Formula for “Flat Sum” Bonus Overtime Calculation Rejected
By Loren Gesinsky and Jacob Oslick
Seyfarth Synopsis: The DOL has reissued 17 opinion letters it withdrew in 2009. It has also issued two new field assistance bulletins. The DOL’s new openness to answering employer questions, and providing written guidance, harbors good things for both employers and employees.
Hey-la, hey-la, opinion letters and field assistance bulletins are back! They’ve been
Continue Reading “They’re Back. . . Part II: The DOL Reissues 17 Previously Withdrawn Opinion Letters”
By Robert A. Fisher and Molly C. Mooney
Seyfarth Synopsis: In an important decision, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court clarified the scope of personal liability for unpaid wages under the Massachusetts Wage Act. The SJC held that board members and directors of a company generally cannot be held personally liable for unpaid wages, unless they take on significant management
Continue Reading Company Investors and Board Members Off The Hook For Unpaid Wages In Massachusetts
By: Noah A. Finkel and Andrew L. Scroggins
Seyfarth Synopsis: Pending bi-partisan legislation aimed at preventing employers from enforcing arbitration agreements of sexual harassment claims might make employers unable to enforce arbitration agreements, and class waivers included in them, as to any employment claim.
High profile stories of sexual harassment (and much worse) in the workplace and beyond have
Continue Reading SLOW DOWN Congress: You Are About to Render the FAA Inapplicable to Employment Disputes (and Class Waivers), and You Probably Don’t Realize It