I am always skeptical when I hear a deal that sounds too good to be true. Because of my healthy skepticism, I hope that I am unlikely to be scammed by the phishing e-mail advising me a foreign distant relative has left me a lot of money and I only need to send a few thousand dollars to an off-shore bank
Court Enters Judgment Against Police Officers on Overtime Suit Against City
In a recent case out of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, a federal judge entered summary judgment for the City of Fort Worth in an FLSA overtime case filed by four former police officers.
In Clark v. City of Fort Worth, Texas, four retired City of Fort Worth police officers filed a FLSA putative collective action seeking to
Congress Hears Employer Suggestions on Modernizing the FLSA
Yesterday, the Congressional Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Workforce Protections heard suggestions on how the FLSA can and should be modernized to better reflect the realities of the 21st Century Workforce. The following summarizes the suggestions made by business and employer representatives on how the FLSA should be modernized:
- Update the computer professional exemption by
Congressional Subcommittee to Examine the Effect of the FLSA and the Modern Workforce
This morning the Education and the Workforce Committee Subcommittee on Workforce Protections will examine whether the FLSA is outdated in today’s modern workforce. The hearing is entitled “The Fair Labor Standards Act: Is It Meeting the Needs of the Twenty-First Century Workplace?”
According to the Subcommittee’s media advisory:
Despite the broad impact of the
Governor Perry Closes Loophole on Theft of Service Law
Governor Perry signed SB 1024 eliminating a loophole that previously existed for a criminal theft of service charge. Under prior law, a party obtaining services from another under a promise to pay could avoid a criminal charge of theft of service so long as the party was making minimal payments. According to the bill’s analysis:
Theft of wages occurs when
Wage and Hour Rules for Unpaid Internships
Schools are out for the summer and many college and graduate students are looking for experience in what they hope will be their chosen careers. Employer’s looking to provide that experience through the use of unpaid internships must understand the rules that qualify an internship for "unpaid" status or unwittingly create potential wage and hour
DOL Publishes Smart Phone Time Keeping App
Today the U.S. Department of Labor announced publication of a time keeping App for smart phones –the DOL -Timesheet. Employees can download the free App through iTunes and can be used with the iPad, iPhone and iTouch. The App is an electronic timesheet that allows employees to record their hours worked and calculate the amount of
Oral Complaints of Wage and Hour Violations Sufficient to Provide Protection from Retaliation
The Fair Labor Standards Act is the federal law that requires most employers to pay a minimum wage and overtime. The FLSA also includes an anti-retaliation provision that prohibits an employer from discharging any employee who has "filed a complaint" under the FLSA because of that complaint. The issue at the high court in Kasten v. Saint-Gobain
Fifth Circuit Holds that FLSA Action Is Improper Forum for Employer to Seek Set-Off Against Wage and Overtime Claims
Employers often consider asserting counterclaims against employees who file lawsuits against them. Most lawyers representing employers counsel against filing counterclaims except in exceptional cases (e.g., an employee’s theft of trade secrets or breach of a covenant not to compete). However, where an employer pays an employee valuable severance benefits in return for a release
Police Sergeant Sues for Overtime Based on Time Spent Reading and Responding to E-mails
Last year I wrote about the risks associated with providing company issued cell-phones or PDA’s to nonexempt employees. Since that post, there continues to be lawsuits filed seeking unpaid overtime for the off-the-clock time nonexempt employees spend reading and responding to work-related e-mails. The most recent example is that of a police sergeant for the City of