Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released the final version of its anticipated overtime exemption rule, setting a new annual salary threshold for “white collar” exemptions under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) at just over $35,000 per year. In the DOL’s press release accompanying the final rule, the agency anticipated its action will “make 1.3 million American workers newly eligible for overtime pay.” The new rule will take effect on January 1, 2020.[1]
Continue Reading
On September 11, 2019, the California Senate passed Assembly Bill 5 (A.B. 5), which – if signed into law – will codify the so-called “ABC Test” utilized by the California Supreme Court in Dynamex v. Superior Court of Los Angeles to hold that the company’s delivery drivers were employees, not independent contractors, for the purpose of applying California Department of Industrial Relations Wage Orders. The bill, which California Governor Gavin Newsom is expected to sign, will have major implications on so-called “gig economy” workers, potentially leading to many being reclassified as employees rather than independent contractors.
Continue Reading
On July 24, 2019, the Chicago City Council voted to pass the Fair Workweek Ordinance that will require covered employers to, among other things, provide employees with at least 10 days’ advance notice of their work schedules and provide additional compensation to employees for any unscheduled changes to their scheduled work hours. Mayor Lori Lightfoot publically supported and is expected to sign the ordinance, which will go into effect on July 1, 2020.
Continue Reading
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has updated last week’s statement, described here, to confirm that in addition to 2018 “Component 2” pay data, it will now also be seeking data for calendar year 2017 by the September 30 deadline.
While EEO-1 compliance for 2019 appears to be a moving target, employers should plan to heed the EEOC’s statement and prepare to comply with the September 30 deadline for Component 2 data for both 2017 and 2018.
Continue Reading
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has issued a statement notifying covered entities to prepare to submit EEO-1 “Component 2” pay data for calendar year 2018 by the end of September. According to the Notice of Immediate Reinstatement of Revised EEO-1: Pay Data Collection, the EEOC expects to start collecting this data in mid-July, and in the meantime, filers must still submit their EEO-1 “Component 1” data for calendar year 2018 by the extended May 31, 2019 deadline. In light of these developments, covered employers should, at a minimum, prepare to file 2018 Component 2 pay and hours data by September 30, in addition to filing Component 1 data by May 31.
Continue Reading
Rather than wait for another case to come before it to address the requirements for joint employer status, the majority of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) members have opted to take the little-used rulemaking route. The proposed rule, which was released on September 14, 2018, would amend 29 CFR part 103 to add §103.40, defining joint employers. The proposed definition is only two sentences long:
An employer, as defined by Section 2(2) of the National Labor Relations Act (the Act), may be considered a joint employer of a separate employer’s employees only if the two employers share or codetermine the employees’ essential terms and conditions of employment, such as hiring, firing, discipline, supervision, and direction. A putative joint employer must possess and actually exercise substantial direct and immediate control over the employees’ essential terms and conditions of employment in a manner that is not limited and routine.
As of August 21, 2018, the Nursing Mothers in the Workplace Act, 820 ILCS 260, has been amended to provide that Illinois employers that are subject to the Act must provide reasonable break time whenever the employee needs to express milk. The break time may (but not “must”) run concurrently with break time already provided.
Continue Reading
The California Supreme Court adopted a new test Monday for determining whether workers are employees—rejecting the court’s previous multi-factor test. The decision in Dynamex Operations West Inc. v. The Superior Court of Los Angeles County, S222732 (Cal. Apr. 30, 2018), has immediate ramifications for employers in California who hire or utilize independent contractors. In short, the bar for establishing “independent contractor” status has been raised, and California companies will have to assess their practices in order to conform to this new reality.
Continue Reading
The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held Monday, on the eve of National Equal Pay Day, that it violates the Equal Pay Act to use pay history to justify wage gaps between male and female employees for the same or substantially similar work. The decision in Rizo v. Yovino, No. 16-15372 (9th Cir. Apr. 9, 2018) has immediate ramifications for employers in the Ninth Circuit in evaluating employee compensation.
Continue Reading
As we had previously reported, in 2015 the then-Democrat controlled National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in the Browning-Ferris case ruled that a joint employer relationship could be found if an entity had mere indirect or potential control over individuals employed by another entity. This decision reversed decades of precedent in which the NLRB held that a joint employer relationship would only be found if one entity had “direct and immediate control” over individuals employed by another entity.
Continue Reading