By: Christina Jaremus and Noah Finkel
Seyfarth Synopsis: FLSA practitioners long have been aware that most courts hold that purely private releases of FLSA claims are void, and that a release of an FLSA claim is valid only if approved by the Department of Labor or a court. A few courts have gone a step further and prohibited parties from
Continue Reading Another Court Rejects The Approval Requirement For Individual FLSA Settlements
By: Noah Finkel and Scott Hecker
Seyfarth Synopsis: On June 21, 2022, the Biden Administration announced the release of its Spring 2022 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions. In connection with the Administration’s new regulatory agenda, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division targeted October 2022 for the release of a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on
Continue Reading October Surprise? DOL Proposal for Exempt Status Minimum Salary Hike Could be Coming 10/2022
By: Kyle Winnick & Andrew McKinley
Seyfarth Synopsis: On Monday, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a case addressing whether an employee paid on a day rate and earning over $200,000 a year is entitled to overtime under the FLSA
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. v. Hewitt, a case addressing whether
Continue Reading Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Case Concerning Whether a Highly Paid Supervisor’s Daily Rate is a Salary Under the FLSA
By: Robert S. Whitman and Kyle D. Winnick
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Second Circuit held that dismissals without prejudice of FLSA claims are subject to the same judicial or agency scrutiny as dismissals with prejudice of FLSA claims.
Settling Fair Labor Standards Act claims in the Second Circuit just became harder.
In Cheeks v. Freeport Pancake House, the Second Circuit
Continue Reading Second Circuit: Court Review Needed for FLSA Dismissals Even Without Prejudice
By Noah Finkel and Lennon Haas
Seyfarth Synopsis: Plaintiffs asserting federal and state wage and hour claims in one action often pursue both class certification of state claims under Rule 23 and collective action certification under the FLSA. In that hybrid environment, litigating FLSA collectives to judgment before addressing Rule 23 certification can saddle employers with the increased exposure of
Continue Reading Third Circuit Puts The Kibosh on Hybrid Hijinks
By: Ariel Fenster and Noah Finkel
Seyfarth Synopsis: If the gist of a proposed regulation is made final, the 80/20 rule will be back, and with a vengeance. Employers who take a tip credit for their tipped employees will have to ensure that those employees spend no more than 20 percent of their time in a workweek, and no more
Continue Reading Proposed Tip Credit Regulations Place Further Litigation on the Menu
On Thursday, May 20th at 1:00 p.m. ET / 12:00 p.m. CT / 10:00 a.m. PT , Seyfarth attorneys Brett Bartlett, Noah Finkel, Kerry Friedrichs, and Scott Hecker will present a webinar entitled Navigating Wage and Hour Risks Under the Biden Administration.
In February 2021, Seyfarth’s Wage Hour Litigation Practice Group published the inaugural edition of
Continue Reading Upcoming Webinar: Navigating Wage and Hour Risks Under the Biden Administration
By: Robert Whitman and Bill Varade
Seyfarth Synopsis: In Whiteside v. Hover-Davis, Inc., the Second Circuit upheld the dismissal of an FLSA claim because the plaintiff failed to allege facts sufficient to invoke the three-year limitations period for willful violations.
If a plaintiff merely alleges a willful violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), without more, will that suffice
Continue Reading Second Circuit: Mere Allegation Of Willfulness Not Enough To Invoke Three-Year Statute Of Limitations
By: Scott Hecker and Kevin Young
Gone are the days when the U.S. DOL’s Wage & Hour Division (“WHD”) invited employers to proactively identify and collaborate with the Division to fix their wage and hour missteps. Closed is the chapter in which employers could expect WHD to stand down on the threat of double damages outside of egregious cases. After
Continue Reading Preparing for WHD’s Less-Carrot-More-Stick Enforcement Approach
By: Amanda Mazin and David D. Kadue
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Ninth Circuit has held that a weekly per diem benefit paid by a healthcare staffing agency to its traveling clinicians is a wage that increases the employee’s regular rate used to calculate overtime pay. Clarke v. AMN Services, LLC.
Facts
Plaintiffs worked as traveling clinicians for a healthcare staffing company.
Continue Reading Certain Per Diem Payments Increase The FLSA Regular Rate