Wage & Hour

  • November 06, 2024

    How Trump's Return Could Shift The Wage-Hour Landscape

    Former President Donald Trump’s return to the White House could mean dropping appeals in rule challenges, implementing business-friendly enforcement strategies and ending taxes on tips and overtime, attorneys said. Here, Law360 explores what to expect from the new administration.

  • November 06, 2024

    NC Agencies Say Forest Service Workers' OT Is Straight Time

    A North Carolina trial court correctly held that the overtime rate under state law for North Carolina Forest Service professional employees is a straight-time rate, two state agencies told the state's appeals court, arguing that a higher rate is not warranted.

  • November 06, 2024

    HP Applicant Gets Pay Posting Suit Sent Back To State Court

    A Washington federal judge sent back to state court a job applicant's proposed class action accusing HP of violating state law by failing to include salary ranges in job postings, saying the worker hasn't shown she has standing to pursue the dispute in federal court.

  • November 06, 2024

    LA Says Police Lt.'s Military Leave Support Still Deficient

    A retired police lieutenant still failed to support his claims that he was denied a promotion because of his military service despite the court giving him a chance to fix deficiencies in his allegations, the city of Los Angeles told a California federal court.

  • November 06, 2024

    Shuttered Bakery To Pay $900K To Settle Calif. Wage Suit

    A former wholesale bakery will pay over $900,000 to former employees who alleged they were not paid final paychecks or for unused vacation time when the shop abruptly closed in 2018, the California Labor Commissioner's Office said.

  • November 06, 2024

    Former Walmart Manager Can Proceed With OT Suit

    A former Walmart manager supported her claims for unpaid overtime in her misclassification suit, a Georgia federal judge said Wednesday, rejecting the retail company's bid to toss her lawsuit.

  • November 06, 2024

    Calif. Charter School Network Underpaid Workers, Suit Claims

    One of the biggest nonprofit free public charter school networks in the U.S., based in California, cheated employees out of wages and overtime, while also employing workers under the age of 16 in hazardous jobs, a Private Attorneys General Act suit claims.

  • November 06, 2024

    Domino's Drivers' Claims Should Be Arbitrated, Court Told

    A Domino's franchisee urged an Ohio federal court to ship to arbitration allegations from two former pizza delivery drivers who accused the company of underreimbursing them for vehicle-related expenses, saying they failed to opt out of its binding arbitration provision.

  • November 06, 2024

    MVP: O'Melveny's Mark W. Robertson

    Mark W. Robertson of O'Melveny & Myers LLP has spent the year defending Piedmont Airlines Inc. and American Airlines from proposed class actions and other litigation over overtime, sick leave and other employment issues, earning himself a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 Transportation MVPs.

  • November 05, 2024

    Mass. Voters Reject Tipped Minimum Wage Proposal

    Massachusetts voters on Tuesday rejected a hotly contested measure that would have fundamentally changed how servers and other tipped workers are compensated, one of a collection of ballot initiatives dealing with employment rights, education and legalized hallucinogens.

  • November 05, 2024

    An Early Look At Trump's Supreme Court Shortlist

    With former President Donald Trump projected to win the 2024 presidential election and the Republicans' success in securing the U.S. Senate majority, Trump may now get the chance to appoint two more justices to the U.S. Supreme Court, cementing the court's conservative tilt for decades to come.

  • November 05, 2024

    GOP's Senate Win Hands Future Of The Judiciary To Trump

    Republicans were projected to take back the White House and Senate and possibly the House early Wednesday, putting the GOP in position to back Donald Trump's agenda and his slate of young, conservative judicial nominees. 

  • November 05, 2024

    The Firms With An Inside Track To A New Trump Admin

    Law firms that have represented Donald Trump and the Republican Party on everything from personal legal woes to election-related lawsuits could see the risks of that work pay dividends as Trump is projected to secure a second term in office.

  • November 05, 2024

    California's $18 Minimum Wage Initiative Too Close To Call

    In the early morning hours on Wednesday, it was still too close to call whether California voters would approve an initiative to increase the statewide minimum wage from the current floor of $16 an hour to $18 an hour, with votes against the measure slightly ahead.

  • November 05, 2024

    Wage Ballot Measures See Mixed Results In 4 States

    Voters on Tuesday approved statewide ballot measures that will raise the minimum wage and establish paid sick leave while rejecting those that would impact the tipped subminimum wage.

  • November 05, 2024

    Audio Worker Says Flagging Ethical Concerns Got Him Fired

    An audio series platform reneged on a promise to offer full-time employment to an independent contractor after he raised concerns about discriminatory content the company was producing and then abruptly fired him when he asked about his promised employment contract, a lawsuit filed in California state court said.

  • November 05, 2024

    Justices Appear Wary Of Higher FLSA Evidence Standards

    The U.S. Supreme Court seemed skeptical of heightened evidence standards for the Fair Labor Standards Act overtime exemptions during oral arguments Tuesday, grilling workers' counsel about why such wage rights are more important than others.

  • November 05, 2024

    9th Circ. Rules Biden Couldn't Spike Federal Contractor Wage

    The Federal Property and Administrative Services Act didn't authorize President Joe Biden to mandate a $15 blanket minimum wage for federal contractors, a split Ninth Circuit panel ruled Tuesday, reviving a challenge four states lodged against the government.

  • November 05, 2024

    Littler Adds To Litigation Bench With Ex-Fresno, Calif. Atty

    Employment firm Littler Mendelson PC announced that a former deputy attorney for the City of Fresno joined the firm's office in the city, adding that his government along with employment law experience will help its employer clients.

  • November 05, 2024

    Biz Groups Urge 5th Circ. To Rethink OT Threshold Rule

    Two business groups told the Fifth Circuit that the U.S. Department of Labor does not have the authority to create a salary threshold to define which workers are overtime exempt, urging the full appeals court to overturn a September opinion because it created confusion within the circuit.

  • November 05, 2024

    Business Services Co. Inks $525K Deal In Off-Clock Work Suit

    A business services company for a major grocery retail group will pay $525,000 to end a proposed class and collective action alleging it stiffed call center workers on pay for off-the-clock work, according to a filing in North Carolina federal court.

  • November 05, 2024

    Calif. Basketball Referee Group Hit With PAGA Suit

    A California-based association training people to become basketball referees misclassified its instructors as independent contractors, cheating them out of wages and reimbursements, an instructor said in a Private Attorneys General Act suit filed in state court.

  • November 05, 2024

    Ex-Worker Says US Bancorp Fails To Pay For Preshift Tasks

    U.S. Bancorp requires call center agents to be ready to answer calls from customers the moment their shifts start but doesn't compensate them for the time it takes to boot up their computers and be prepared to work, according to a proposed class actio in Minnesota federal court.

  • November 05, 2024

    On The Ground: How Attorneys Safeguarded The Election

    Attorneys worked tirelessly Tuesday to support citizens and election workers on the final day of voting in one of history's most contentious presidential contests.

  • November 04, 2024

    NCAA Baseball Coaches Seek Class Cert. In Wage-Fix Case

    Division I volunteer baseball coaches asked a California federal judge to certify their proposed antitrust class action challenging the NCAA's since-repealed "uniform wage fix" bylaw that paid volunteer coaches nothing, which prevented them from getting compensated their market value for their services.

Expert Analysis

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: March Lessons

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    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses four notable circuit court decisions on topics from consumer fraud to employment — and provides key takeaways for counsel on issues including coercive communications with putative class members and Article III standing at the class certification stage.

  • Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents

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    Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.

  • EEOC Case Reminds That Men Can Also Claim Pay Bias

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    The Maryland State Highway Administration recently settled U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission claims that a male employee was paid less than his female colleagues, highlighting why employers should not focus on a particular protected class when it comes to assessing pay bias risk, say Barbara Grandjean and Audrey Merkel at Husch Blackwell.

  • 2026 World Cup: Companies Face Labor Challenges And More

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    Companies sponsoring or otherwise involved with the 2026 FIFA World Cup — hosted jointly by the U.S., Canada and Mexico — should be proactive in preparing to navigate many legal considerations in immigration, labor management and multijurisdictional workforces surrounding the event, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Avoiding Jurisdictional Risks From Execs' Remote Work

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    Following a California federal court's recent decision in Evans v. Cardlytics — where the case was remanded to state court because the company’s executives worked remotely in California — there are several steps employers can take to ensure they will not be exposed to unfavored jurisdictions, says Eric Fox at Quarles & Brady.

  • Eye On Compliance: Workplace March Madness Pools

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    With March Madness set to begin in a few weeks, employers should recognize that workplace sports betting is technically illegal, keeping federal and state gambling laws in mind when determining whether they will permit ever-popular bracket pools, says Laura Stutz at Wilson Elser.

  • Handbook Hot Topics: Workplace AI Risks

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    As generative artificial intelligence tools penetrate workplaces, employers should incorporate sound AI policies and procedures in their handbooks in order to mitigate liability risks, maintain control of the technology, and protect their brands, says Laura Corvo at White and Williams.

  • Water Cooler Talk: Investigation Lessons In 'Minority Report'

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    Tracey Diamond and Evan Gibbs at Troutman Pepper discuss how themes in Steven Spielberg's Science Fiction masterpiece "Minority Report" — including prediction, prevention and the fallibility of systems — can have real-life implications in workplace investigations.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: February Lessons

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    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses five notable circuit court decisions on topics from property taxes to veteran's rights — and provides key takeaways for counsel on issues including class representative intervention, wage-and-hour dispute evidence and ascertainability requirements.

  • NYC Cos. Must Prepare For Increased Sick Leave Liability

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    A recent amendment to New York City's sick leave law authorizes employees for the first time to sue their employers for violations — so employers should ensure their policies and practices are compliant now to avoid the crosshairs of litigation once the law takes effect in March, says Melissa Camire at Fisher Phillips.

  • Employer Trial Tips For Fighting Worker PPE Pay Claims

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    Courts have struggled for decades to reach consensus on whether employees must be paid for time spent donning and doffing personal protective equipment, but this convoluted legal history points to practical trial strategies to help employers defeat these Fair Labor Standards Act claims, say Michael Mueller and Evangeline Paschal at Hunton.

  • Employer Lessons From NLRB Judge's Union Bias Ruling

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    A National Labor Relations Board judge’s recent decision that a Virginia drywall contractor unlawfully transferred and fired workers who made union pay complaints illustrates valuable lessons about how employers should respond to protected labor activity and federal labor investigations, says Kenneth Jenero at Holland & Knight.

  • 9 Tools To Manage PAGA Claims After Calif. High Court Ruling

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    In Estrada v. Royalty Carpet Mills, the California Supreme Court recently dealt a blow to employers by ruling that courts cannot dismiss Private Attorneys General Act claims on manageability grounds, but defendants and courts can still use arbitration agreements, due process challenges and other methods when dealing with unmanageable claims, says Ryan Krueger at Sheppard Mullin.