Last year, a federal court issued an injunction that put the brakes on a Department of Labor rule that would expand overtime pay to millions of workers. While the government isn’t enforcing the rule because of the court order, a new lawsuit filed against Chipotle argues that that shouldn’t stop employers from abiding by the terms. To that end, employees of the fast casual restaurant in New Jersey are seeking to recoup overtime pay they would have earned under the rule. [More]
department of labor
Investment Advisors Will Be Required To Work In Your Best Interest, But Will Trump Administration Enforce Rule?
By 5.23.17 — Updated: 5.25.17
After a nearly four-month delay, the Trump administration has decided to allow the Department of Labor to move forward with a rule intended to stop investment advisors from pushing customers into products that primarily benefit the advisor. However, some question whether the administration will actually enforce this rule. [More]
Wells Fargo Ordered To Rehire Whistleblower, Pay $5.4M In Lost Wages
By 4.4.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
Wells Fargo must rehire a wealth management group manager who was fired after reporting suspected fraudulent behavior to the bank’s ethics hotline. [More]
Wells Fargo Still Has A Lot Of Fake Account Fiasco Investigations To Deal With
By 3.31.17
Wells Fargo may believe that its recently announced $110 million settlement will put an end to the many federal lawsuits over the bank’s fake account fiasco, but that may be wishful thinking. In fact, the financial institution is still party to nearly a dozen investigations and lawsuits. [More]
Do Investment Advisors Have Your Best Interests In Mind? They Don’t Have To
By 2.3.17
The Department of Labor’s Fiduciary Duty Rule aims to protect families from conflicts of interest by requiring advisors to act in the best interest of customers. Sounds pretty common sense. But it’s now in jeopardy as President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order directing the Department to take the first step toward changing or eliminating the rule, before it even formally takes effect. [More]
Feds Appeal Order That Halted Expansion Of Overtime Pay To Millions
By 12.1.16
This morning, around 4 million Americans would have gone to work, eligible to collect overtime pay that they hadn’t previously been entitled to receive. However, last week a federal court judge halted the new rule that would have expanded this overtime coverage. Even with a new administration coming into the White House in about seven weeks, the Justice Department has announced its intention to appeal this ruling. [More]
Federal Court Halts New Rule That Would Have Provided Overtime Pay For Millions
By 11.23.16
Last May, the U.S. Department of Labor finalized a new rule that would have greatly expanded the number of American workers eligible to collect overtime. That rule was slated to go into effect on Dec. 1, but last night a federal judge in Texas put a temporary halt on the updated rule. [More]
Senators Ask For Investigation Into Possible Wage, Hour Violations By Wells Fargo
By 9.22.16 — Updated: 9.30.16
To say that Wells Fargo has been having a bad few weeks might be an understatement: from being ordered to pay $185 million for the opening and closing of two million unauthorized consumer accounts to being party to federal investigations and being grilled on Capitol Hill. But it doesn’t look like things are going to get any easier for the company, as lawmakers are now urging a probe into whether it violated labor laws. [More]
Ashley Furniture To Pay $1.75M Over Worker Safety Violations
By 6.9.16
Following reports of more than 1,000 employee injuries, home furnishings retailer Ashley Furniture has agreed to pay $1.75 million to settle numerous allegations by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
[More]
Government Will Try To Figure Out How Many Americans Are Now Part Of The “On-Demand” Workforce
By 1.26.16
How many Americans are making money from “on-demand” jobs — like being an Uber driver, selling stuff on Etsy, or renting out a room on Airbnb — that either didn’t exist until a few years ago or have exploded in popularity thanks to technological innovations? No one really knows, with various reports putting it at anywhere from 5% of the workforce to more than a third. So, for the first time in more than a decade, the U.S. Department of Labor will try to get a more accurate headcount on so-called “contingent” workers. [More]
Labor Dept. Tries To Clarify When Workers Are “Employees” Or “Contractors”
By 7.16.15
Where is a business supposed to draw the line between a traditional employee and an independent contractor hired by the company? Some say it’s a question of hours worked, or whether the position is project-based, while others claim it’s whatever the company and the worker agree to call it. In an effort to clarify the matter, the U.S. Dept. of Labor has chimed in with new guidance for employers.
[More]
Papa John’s Franchise Owner Faces Jail Time, $500,000 In Back Pay & Penalties For Skirting Wage Laws
By 7.15.15
For the third time this year, prosecutors have accused an owner of a New York-area Papa John’s pizza franchise of not paying employees minimum wage and overtime. This time, the franchise owner is accused of not only failing to pay his workers properly, but devising a scheme to carry out the non-payment through falsified tax documents. Now, he and his company are not only facing more than $500,000 in payments to employees and fines, but jail time. [More]
Dept. Of Labor Proposal Would Expand Overtime Pay To Nearly Five Million More Americans
By 6.30.15
Working more than 40 hours a week but not getting paid overtime because you make too much already? If so, you might soon be pocketing more dough for your extra hours under newly proposed federal regulations that raise the threshold income level at which workers are exempt from overtime pay of time-and-a-half wages. [More]
Proposed Rules Target Fees Collected By Retirement Financial Advisers, Brokers
By 2.23.15
When visiting a financial adviser for consultation about retirement savings one might assume those counselors have their best interests in mind. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. To better ensure consultants are working for consumers and not for fees, the Labor Department will propose new rules to increase standards for brokers who recommend investments for retirement accounts. [More]
LinkedIn Must Pay Employees $6M For Unpaid Overtime
By 8.4.14
What happens when a company built on human resources and professional networking doesn’t act so professional? In the case of LinkedIn, the business is ordered to pay employees $6 million for unpaid overtime and damages. [More]
USPS Sued By Feds For Labeling Whistle-Blower A Drug-Using “Terrorist”
By 7.28.14
If you think an employee of yours might be too quick to gripe or prone to exaggerated complaints, there are proper ways to handle that situation. Among those accepted methods is not falsely telling others that he’s a terrorist and that he’d threatened to blow up your building. [More]
Would Expanding The White-Collar Overtime Exception Change This Walmart Manager’s Life?
By 3.25.14
You might have seen the news a few weeks ago that President Obama issued an executive order that would expand how many workers who are eligible to receive overtime pay. Under current rules, salaried workers with administrative or supervisory duties, like retail managers, are exempt from federal overtime rules as long as they earn more than $455 per week. That includes an anonymous assistant manager at Walmart who spoke to Salon’s Josh Eidelson about what that really means in his life. [More]
Should Everyone Have The Right To A Break During The Work Day?
By 9.4.13
Many of us have the option of taking at least one brief lunch and/or rest break during the work day (whether you take it or not is a different discussion), and lots of people believe they are legally entitled to a break for every few hours worked. But the fact is that it is perfectly legal in most states for employers to not give employees any rest during the time they are on the clock. [More]
