Beginning January 1, 2025, the City of St. Paul, Minnesota’s Wage Theft Ordinance went into effect. The Ordinance largely incorporates the State of Minnesota’s existing wage theft legislation. However, similar to the Minneapolis Wage Theft Prevention Ordinance, effective in 2020, the City of St. Paul’s new Ordinance contains additional employer obligations for employers with employees
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Trump DOL Signals a Back-off from Defending Independent Contractor Rule
The Trump Administration has asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to postpone oral argument in a lawsuit challenging President Joe Biden’s 2024 independent contractor rule.
The U.S. Department of Justice filed a motion to pause oral argument in a legal challenge brought by trucking companies in order to give the incoming…
Supreme Court Won’t Consider Federal Contractor Minimum Wage Mandate
The Supreme Court on Monday, Jan. 13, 2025, declined to take up a decision addressing the president’s authority under the Procurement Act to issue a minimum wage mandate for employees working on federal government contracts. The denial of the petition for certiorari keeps a circuit split intact, and leaves federal contractors to navigate the wage…
Proposed Rule Would End Subminimum Wage for Employees with Disabilities
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a proposed rule to end the practice of paying subminimum wages to certain workers with disabilities.
The proposed rule, announced December 3, 2024, marks the first rulemaking related to the subminimum wage in 35 years, although the regulation had been included in the DOL’s long-term regulatory agenda…
DOL Opinion Letter Addresses Expense Reimbursement and Regular Rate
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has released an opinion letter addressing whether per diem expense payments for tools and equipment may be excluded from the hourly rate when calculating overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). (FLSA 2024-01, Nov. 8, 2024).
While the opinion letter doesn’t break new ground, it’s…
U.S. Supreme Court considers standard for proving an FLSA exemption applies
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Tuesday, November 5, on the standard of proof that employers must meet to show an employee is exempt from the minimum wage and overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
There are two competing choices: preponderance of the evidence or “clear and convincing” evidence. Every…
DOL’s Salary Rule for Exempt Employees In Jeopardy After Fifth Circuit Oral Argument
A Fifth Circuit panel heard oral argument on Wednesday, August 7, on whether Department of Labor (DOL) regulations imposing a salary requirement to satisfy the executive, administrative and professional exemptions is valid.
The case on appeal, Mayfield v U.S. Department of Labor, does not address the minimum salary level increase that took effect July 1,…
Texas District Court Blocks DOL Rule Increasing Salary Level for Exempt Employees. But Rule Enjoined as to State of Texas Employees Only (For Now)
In a strongly worded opinion, a federal judge in Texas held the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) likely exceeded its authority in implementing its Final Rule raising the minimum salary level requirements for executive, administrative, and professional (EAP) exemptions to the minimum wage and overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). State of…
Legal Challenges Mount to DOL Rule Raising Salary Threshold for Exempt Employees
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Final Rule raising the minimum salary level requirements for application of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) “white collar” exemptions is scheduled to take effect July 1, 2024. Lawsuits, however, have been filed seeking to invalidate and set aside the Final Rule and to block the increased salary thresholds from…
Independent Contractor Rule Takes Effect, But Legal Challenges Mount
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) final rule revising the standard for determining whether a worker is an employee or independent contractor under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) took effect March 11, 2024. The fate of the rule is uncertain, however, as it faces several legal challenges that could disrupt its implementation.
Independent contractor…