President Obama Increases Minimum Wage for Federal Contractors

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
02/14/2014
As promised in the State of the Union address,  on February 12th, President Obama issued an Executive Order raising the minimum wage to $10.10 for federal contractors and sub-contractors.  The Executive Order can be found here, and the accompanying fact sheet can be found here.  Citing increased morale and productivity, and lower turnover and absenteeism, the Order will apply to all new covered contracts where the solicitation for the contract...
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Supreme Court Unanimous: Steel Workers Were Just Changing Clothes

Darrell VanDeusen
Darrell VanDeusen
01/29/2014
The issue of what constitutes “compensable time” under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is, for most employers, not so difficult to figure out: you clock in, you work, you get paid.   There are, however, some occupations where things are less clear. What if you have to put on a uniform (a police officer or fast food server)?  Well, if you can put it on at home and drive to work, you do not get paid for “doffing and donning,” as it is...
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Maryland Federal Court Denies Arbitration for Wage Claims

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
12/17/2013
The Federal District Court in Maryland recently issued a ruling that should give Maryland employers some concern.  In Jeffrey B. Mould v. NJG Food Service Inc., et al.,  the Court examined the effect of an arbitration agreement on an employee’s federal and state wage claims.  Most practitioners know that arbitration is generally favored by the courts and is hotly contested by plaintiffs, who prefer to try their claims before a jury.  This case...
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Texas Court Strikes Down FLSA Collective Action

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
11/14/2013
Over the past few years, employers have been besieged by "collective actions" filed under federal and state wage and hour laws. These lawsuits aggregate individual claims for unpaid overtime into class actions, thereby making it much more lucrative for a plaintiff's attorney to invest the time and effort into pursuing the case. In  Jones v. Xerox Commercial Solutions, LLC, No. 4:13-cv-650 (S.D. Tex., November 6, 2013), a federal court in Texas...
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DOL Says Law Firms Need Not Pay Interns Doing Pro Bono Work

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
09/25/2013
On September 12, 2013, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Solicitor M. Patricia Smith issued a letter to the American Bar Association (“ABA”) stating that interns working in private law firms need to be paid in certain circumstances.  The ABA specifically inquired into situations in which a law school places a student with a private law firm and acts as an intermediary to monitor the internship’s progress, and in which the law firm provides...
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Volunteer Firefighters are “Employees” for FMLA Coverage

Darrell VanDeusen
Darrell VanDeusen
08/20/2013
In a real head scratcher, the Sixth Circuit has held 2-1 that volunteer firefighters are “employees” who are counted for, and therefore get protection under, the Family and Medical Leave Act.  Mendel v. City of Gibraltar, 2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 16922 (August 15, 2013).  The majority made this decision based on the “substantial wages” paid for the services performed. The City of Gibraltar, Michigan has approximately 25 volunteer firefighters...
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Employee’s Failure to Estimate Overtime Hours May Defeat FLSA Claims

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
08/06/2013
 On August 5, 2013, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed a lower court decision holding that an employee’s FLSA claims were properly dismissed by the trial court.  Dejesus v. HF Mgmt. Servs., LLC, No. 12-4565 (2d. Cir. Aug. 5, 2013).  The district court had dismissed Plaintiff’s complaint because it lacked the factual specificity detailing the alleged unpaid overtime hours that she had allegedly...
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Maryland Governor Signs New Law to Enforce Wage Claims

Last week, Maryland Gov. O'Malley signed into law the "Lien for Unpaid Wages Act." This new law, SB 758, allows employees to file a lien against their employer’s real or personal property for unpaid wages allegedly due them. Once the employee files a lien, the employer must file a complaint setting forth its defenses in the Circuit Court where the employer's property is located within 30 days. If the employer fails to do so, the employee will have...
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Bank is Not Joint Employer of Security Guards Under FLSA

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
05/16/2013
In today’s workplace, most employers rely upon outside vendors to supply security services. What employers may not know is that the fact that the security guards are not their own employees does not necessarily mean that the employer is not liable for violations of employment laws. The answer to the liability question turns in large part on how much control the employer has over the terms of employment for the guards. On May 14, 2013, a federal...
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Court Grants Conditional Class Certification For Police Officers’ Overtime Claim Based On After Hours Blackberry Use

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
02/27/2013
On January 14, 2013, a federal district court approved a Chicago police sergeant’s request for conditional certification of an FLSA collective action for unpaid overtime wages.  Allen v. Chicago, No. 10-03183 (N.D. Ill. Jan. 14, 2013). The lawsuit alleges that the Chicago Police Department failed to pay police officers overtime pay for time spent working on their city-issued BlackBerry devices after regular work hours.  According to the...
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