Two Employment Related Measures Under Consideration By Congress

At least two employment-related bills have been introduced in Congress in recent days.  The first, H.R. 4219, dubbed the Workflex in the 21st Century Act, would amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to include an option for qualified flexible workplace arrangements.  Under the legislation in its current form, employers would voluntarily offer employees at least a guaranteed minimum level of paid leave.  The amount of leave...
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Montgomery County Will Increase Minimum Wage To $15 Per Hour

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
11/13/2017
The Montgomery County Council voted last week to increase its minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2021 for employers with more than 50 employees.  Under Bill 28-17, beginning July 1, 2022, and each July 1 thereafter, the County minimum wage rate will be increased by the annual average increase, if any, in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) for the previous calendar year in the Washington-Baltimore area.  The...
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Labor Department Seeks Appeal and Stay of Overtime Ruling

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
11/01/2017
In a move that surprised many observers, on October 30, 2017, the United States Department of Labor appealed a federal judge's August ruling striking down the Obama-era overtime regulations.  In a statement issued by the DOL, the agency explained that it will also file a motion to freeze the appeal while it undertakes further rule making on what the appropriate salary level  for exempt status should be. Here's a quick recap on how we got to this...
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Employer With Flex-Time Policy Can’t Catch FLSA Break From Third Circuit

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
10/18/2017
Coffee and bathroom breaks are as much a part of the modern workplace as cubicles, desks, and printer problems.  They are widely seen as a “win-win” scenario for both employees and employers.  Employees who take a few minutes every so often to relieve themselves or boost their caffeine generally report being more alert and focused when they return to their work duties, and employers receive the benefits of a more efficient workforce when...
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DOL Overtime Rules: This Time, We Have Something to Report

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
09/05/2017
Barely more than 24 hours after we published a blog telling you there was little new to report on the Department of Labor's proposed changes to overtime regulations, something big happened:  a federal judge in Texas struck the proposed rules down.  Granting summary judgment to more than 55 business groups that challenged the rule, Judge Amos Mazzant ruled that the drastic increase in the salary required to be exempt -- from $23,660 to $47,476 - was...
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DOL Overtime Rules: More Useless but Important Information

Darrell VanDeusen
Darrell VanDeusen
08/30/2017
You may recall that I blogged on the stalled DOL overtime rules a month or so ago, with the Trump DOL repeatedly asking for extensions to file a brief in the Fifth Circuit. In that brief,   administration lawyers told the Fifth Circuit that the DOL intends to revise the overtime rule and asked the court to affirm the DOL’s right to use salary levels to determine eligibility for overtime pay.   DOL lawyers stated that the Department will not...
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Police Officers Not Entitled To Payment For Alleged Off-Duty Blackberry Use

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
08/16/2017
Discussions about the roles and duties of both police officers and electronic devices have consumed much of our collective attention these days.  Thus, it seemed particularly resonant to explore the interaction between the two, as the Seventh Circuit did recently in Allen v. City of Chicago.  No. 16-1029 (7th Cir. Aug. 3, 2017).  Specifically, what overtime obligations does an employer have when it instructs its workforce not to use their...
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Maryland’s Minimum Wage $9.25/hour as of July 1, 2017; and a DOL Update

Darrell VanDeusen
Darrell VanDeusen
07/03/2017
Here’s a brief update on things Wage and Hour: Maryland Minimum Wage Rates Continuing the step increase in Maryland’s minimum wage passed by the General Assembly a few years ago, on July 1, the state minimum wage increased to $9.25/hour.   The final planned increase to $10.10/hour will occur on July 1, 2018.. July 1 also saw an increase in the minimum wage required to be paid in Montgomery County to $11.50/hour.   Prince George’s County...
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Private Sector Comp Time Bill Passes the House

Darrell VanDeusen
Darrell VanDeusen
05/05/2017
Comp-time is a common practice in the public sector and has been regularly used by public sector employees since the FLSA was amended in 1985.   It is available in the private sector too, but the requirements in place for an employer to do it right make it nearly impossible to use.  Which is why private sector employers who want to follow the law don’t often try to use it. An effort is taking place in Congress to amend the FLSA.  The Working...
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Federal Court Issues Nationwide Order Blocking New Overtime Rule

Employers received something to be thankful for late yesterday afternoon, when a federal judge in Texas issued a nationwide preliminary injunction against the Obama Administration’s overtime rules that were scheduled to take effect on December 1. With the Trump Administration set to take office on January 20, 2017, there is a significant chance the new rules will never take effect. A brief FLSA refresher: employers are ordinarily required to pay...
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