Wage & Hour

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The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage & Hour Division announced it will no longer issue fact-specific definitive opinion letters in response to questions submitted by individuals and organizations.  According to the Division, its opinion letters provide only limited guidance to broad categories of employers and employees where slight factual differences in the facts assumed in the letter could result…

As a light dusting of snow falls on much of North and West Texas, I thought it was a good time to review the rules regarding deductions from exempt employee salaries for weather-related absences.  Employees qualifying for the white collar exemptions (e.g., professional, administrative and executive exemptions) are generally entitled to receive their entire salary for any…

Companies using independent contractors to perform work normally performed by employees beware; state and federal governmental taxing authorities are challenging those classifications in an effort to increase tax revenue on wages that are not properly reported.  According to a recent article by the Associated Press, "the Internal Revenue Service and 37 states are cracking down on…

There has been a significant amount of litigation against employers over the compensability of work time for putting on and taking off safety-related clothing and equipment prior to the start of a shift but necessary for the work to be performed.  For example, Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation recently agreed to pay $1 million in back wages to settle a…

Last night CBS launched its new series "Undercover Boss" following the Super Bowl.  The premise of the semi-reality series is the president of a large company goes undercover as a rank-and-file employee to work for the company and get a bottom-to-top look at how the company operates.  [Spoiler Alert –Don’t read further if you…

Recently I wrote about the risks posed by misclassifying employees as independent contractors.   In an unpublished opinion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (the federal appellate court that hears appeals from Texas) reversed a summary judgment awarded in favor of a company that had classified two cable splicers who performed post-Katrina telecommunications…

Employers have long been challenged by a variety of wage and hour litigation such as misclassification cases and off-the-clock overtime cases.  One of the latest trends in wage and hour litigation is attacking a company’s classification of its workers as independent contractors instead of employees.  Because independent contractors are not entitled to certain aspects of benefits provided…

Employees frequently stay connected with work through company issued smart phones.  Smart phones, like the iPhone, Blackberry, and Treo, allow employees to have access to their work e-mails, calenders and contacts –in addition to making and receiving calls.  In my practice, a smart phone is incredibly useful in staying in touch with my client’s needs when I’m in…