Co-authored by Richard Alfred and Patrick Bannon
2014 saw no letup in the deluge of wage and hour litigation. Year-to-year, federal wage and hour lawsuits filed in federal courts increased by another 4.7%, bringing the total increase in federal court wage and hour cases over the past decade to more than 238%. With the increase in litigation in this area,
Continue Reading 2014 Wage Hour Wrap Up
Authored by Alex Passantino
It’s the week before Christmas, and we’ve accepted our mission,
The annual wage hour “sum-up” composition.
And to start it all off, we’ve got something nice,
‘Cause the Supreme Court addressed wage and hour stuff twice.
The year started out with the first one of those;
As Justice Scalia answered “What counts as clothes?”
With
Continue Reading Integral Clothes and Mistletoes: 2014 Year in Review
Co-authored by Patrick Bannon, Rebecca DeGroff, Noah Finkel and Richard Alfred
The Supreme Court unanimously ruled today that the Fair Labor Standards Act does not require employers to pay employees for time spent passing through post-shift security screening.
The decision, Integrity Staffing Solutions, Inc. v. Busk, is not only a major win for employers who use security
Continue Reading An “Integral and Indispensable” Supreme Court Win For Employers Regarding What Counts As Time Worked Under the FLSA
Authored by Rebecca Pratt DeGroff and Ashley Choren Workman
What do grapefruits, drug tests, and security screening have in common? The Justices of the Supreme Court discussed all three during oral argument yesterday in Integrity Staffing Solutions v. Busk, analyzing the contours of compensable activities under the FLSA, as amended by the Portal-to-Portal Act, including the compensability of law
Continue Reading Of Grapefruits, Drug Tests and Security Screening: Supreme Court Hears Oral Argument in Integrity Staffing Solutions v. Busk
Authored by Jacob Oslick
The days of cursory pleading in FLSA cases have ended. That’s the message the Third Circuit sent a few days before Labor Day, when it issued Davis v. Abington Memorial Hospital. In Davis, the Third Circuit held that it wasn’t sufficient for the plaintiffs, a group of nurses, to generically allege that they “typically”
Continue Reading The Third Circuit: The FLSA Requires Fair Pleading Standards
Authored by Jessica Schauer Lieberman
The Department of Labor surprised employers last week by weighing in on Integrity Staffing Solutions, Inc. v. Busk, which is currently pending before the Supreme Court, and supporting the employer’s position. The administration’s amicus brief, filed last Wednesday, is good news for employers that require their workers to pass through security screenings before or
Continue Reading DOL Shows Integrity in Supporting Employer on Compensability of Time Spent in Security Screenings
Co-authored by Arthur Rooney and Abad Lopez
Under FLSA section 203(o), time spent “changing clothes or washing at the beginning or end of each workday” is excluded from compensable time if it is treated as non-work time by a collective bargaining agreement. So, does section 203(o) only apply to time spent donning and doffing at the beginning and end
Continue Reading Try This On For Size: Seventh Circuit Rejects Factory Workers’ Donning and Doffing Claims Based On Expansive View Of The “Workday”
Co-authored by Rishi Puri, Noah Finkel, and Andrew Paley
At this point, California employers are all too familiar with litigation seeking compensation for preliminary and postliminary activities. The de minimis doctrine is a main line of defense in actions for these claims. Recognized in the seminal U.S. Supreme Court decision of Anderson v. Mt Clemens Pottery Co.,
Continue Reading Starbucks Ruling Makes the Most of the De Minimis Doctrine
Co-authored by Arthur Rooney and Abad Lopez
In a victory for limiting the avenues available to employees covered by collective bargaining agreements, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals held that federal law preempts state law claims for unpaid wages where a CBA is implicated. As a result, the Fourth Circuit reversed a jury verdict in favor of unionized employees in
Continue Reading Company Cries “Fowl” Over Jury Verdict, Fourth Circuit Agrees — Poultry Workers’ State Law Wage Claims Are Preempted by Federal Law
Co-authored by Rebecca Pratt Bromet and Ashley Choren Workman
Today the Supreme Court granted the cert petition filed in Busk v. Integrity Staffing, agreeing to answer the question of whether time spent by workers in security screenings is compensable under the FLSA and the Portal-to-Portal Act. (See Cert Petition; Docket). Importantly, the Supreme Court will (hopefully)
Continue Reading Security On Its Way: SCOTUS Grants Cert. in Security Screening FLSA Case