Age and Wage Issues Among Many Resolved On Election Day

As votes in yesterday’s elections continue to be tallied, there were several developments of interest to employers and to labor and employment practitioners alike. Age: The ADEA Applies To Public Sector Employers Of All Sizes First, yesterday morning, the Supreme Court announced its first decision of the 2018-19 term.  In a unanimous (8-0) ruling, the Court held in Mount Lemmon Fire District v. Guido that the Age Discrimination in Employment Act...
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D.C. Creates New Training And Reporting Obligations For Employers With Tipped Employees

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
11/02/2018
You may recall that earlier this year, voters in the District of Columbia passed an initiative (Initiative 77) that would have increased the minimum wage for tipped employees (who predominantly work in the restaurant, hotel, and retail service industries) incrementally up to $15.00 an hour by 2025. Recently, however, the D.C. Council changed course by passing the Tipped Wage Workers Fairness Amendment Act of 2018 (the "Act").  Most directly, the...
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Expanded Construction Contractor Wage Liability Takes Effect October 1, 2018

Randi Klein Hyatt
Randi Klein Hyatt
09/10/2018
Beginning on October 1, 2018, construction contractors doing business in Maryland may be held liable if their subcontractors fail to pay their workers.  To say that this expanded liability is significant would be an understatement. First, a bit of background.  The Maryland Wage Payment and Collection Law permits an employee who has not been paid in accordance with his or her employer’s regular pay practices to sue the employer for the wages that...
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Failure to Mediate Bars Claim for Unpaid Wages

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
09/07/2018
The Supreme Court of Virginia has affirmed the dismissal of a suit for unpaid wages because of the plaintiff's failure to seek mediation before filing suit.   In Primov v. Serco, Inc., the Court upheld the Circuit Court of Fairfax County's dismissal of a  complaint with prejudice upon sustaining a plea in bar for failure to comply with a contractual condition precedent before filing suit. In Primov, the plaintiff alleged that he had an employment...
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DOL’s Six Latest Opinion Letters Offer Useful Guidance To Employers

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
08/30/2018
After going into hibernation during the Obama Administration, opinion letters have reemerged as part of the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division’s (WHD) efforts to guide employers seeking valuable input about legal compliance and best practices.  As the DOL itself explains, these letters are “official, written opinion[s] by WHD on how a particular law applies in specific circumstances presented by the person or entity requesting the letter.” The...
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California Refuses To Adopt FLSA De Minimus Rule

Randi Klein Hyatt
Randi Klein Hyatt
08/06/2018
On July 26, 2018, California’s Supreme Court ruled in Troester v. Starbucks Corporation that the FLSA’s de minimus rule does not apply to California wage and hour claims.  The FLSA’s de minimus rule is firmly established in federal wage and hour law, and generally provides that insubstantial or insignificant periods of time beyond typical working hours that cannot be precisely recorded may be disregarded.  The Ninth Circuit, in which...
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Illinois Federal Court Permits Biometric Privacy Case To Proceed

Randi Klein Hyatt
Randi Klein Hyatt
06/18/2018
Employers of all sizes attempt to balance the need for accountability in timekeeping and having employees accurately report their hours worked with respect for employees’ privacy.  To accomplish these goals in the era of modern technology, in addition to unique computer login information for individual workstations and employer-issued computers, some employers use other state-of-the-art technology such as fingerprint scanning systems. A recent...
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New Minimum Wage Rates Effective July 1 For Maryland And D.C.

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
06/13/2018
On July 1, 2018, new minimum wage rates went into effect for both Maryland and the District of Columbia.  All employees who do not qualify for an exemption must be paid in accordance with the new rates.  The changes provide a good opportunity for employers to audit pay practices to ensure compliance with wage and hour laws.  Defense of a pay claim comes at a substantial cost and a simple review now can serve to mitigate or even eliminate complex...
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New York City Introduces Disconnecting From Work Law

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
04/16/2018
Disconnecting from work may be à la mode.  And no, I do not mean topped with ice cream.  Rather, it appears that laws restricting or prohibiting employers from requiring employees to check work e-mails after work hours could be catching. Last year, a law in France granting employees a “right to disconnect” from work went into effect.  The law requires covered employers (companies with more than 50 employees) to ensure that their...
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No Overtime This Time... Supreme Court Holds Service Advisors Are Exempt Under The FLSA

Randi Klein Hyatt
Randi Klein Hyatt
04/04/2018
On April 2, 2018, the Supreme Court, with its second consideration of the same case, held in a 5-4 decision, that automobile service advisors are exempt from overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).  In Encino Motorcars, LLC v. Navarro, the Supreme Court held that service advisers fall under the FLSA exemption applicable to “any salesman, partsman, or mechanic primarily engaged in selling or servicing automobiles, trucks, or farm...
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