What’s on your wish list this holiday season? For the few dozen members of the House of Representatives Freedom Caucus, the hope to see President-elect Donald Trump undo or revise more than 200 federal rules involving everything from tobacco to food labels to ceiling fans to your constitutional right to bring a lawsuit against your credit card company. [More]
overtime
House ‘Freedom Caucus’ Asks Trump To Undo 232 Rules On Net Neutrality, Tobacco, Nursing Homes & Ceiling Fans
By 12.15.16
Labor Dept. Tries To Revive Overtime Rule Derided By Trump’s Pick For Labor Secretary
By 12.15.16
In November, with only days to go before a new federal overtime rule was set to kick in — adding an estimated 4 million American works to the list of those eligible to receive overtime pay — a federal court granted a nationwide injunction blocking the new rule from being enforced. Now Labor Secretary Thomas Perez is appealing that injunction, even though his successor under the incoming Trump administration will almost certainly drop that appeal once in office. [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]
Former Chipotle Manager Says He Was Fired For Refusing Wage Theft
By 10.28.16 — Updated: 6.7.17
A former Chipotle manager worked hard and rose through the company’s ranks, and then he says that he had a decision to make after opening of a new restaurant: he could commit wage theft against his employees, or he could risk losing his job and the relocation bonus he had just received. He chose the latter, and is now speaking out about his experience with wage theft at the burrito eatery. [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]
Lawsuit: Target Failed To Pay New York Warehouse Workers Overtime
By 3.31.16
A group of Target warehouse employees in New York filed a class-action seeking lawsuit against the retailer, accusing the company of misclassifying workers with low-level management responsibilities so they wouldn’t receive overtime pay. [More]
Amazon ‘Prime Now’ Drivers In Arizona Sue Company For Misclassification, Wage Theft
By 1.8.16
Last year, a group of delivery drivers for Amazon’s Prime Now service who worked through third-party services sued Amazon and their employers in California. Now a group of couriers in Phoenix, Arizona are doing the same, pointing out that being required to wear Prime Now uniforms, ask customers to take Amazon surveys, and work fixed hours from an Amazon warehouse should have made them employees of the mega-e-tailer, not independent subcontractors. [More]
Papa John’s Franchisee Gets Jail Sentence For Not Paying Minimum Wage
By 11.16.15
Earlier this year, the owner of nine Papa John’s franchises in New York City was brought up on charges wage theft for failing to pay his employees the legal minimum wage. As part of a plea deal, the franchisee will pay hundreds of thousands of dollars back to those workers and serve some time behind bars. [More]
Restaurant Group Behind 17 N.J. Houlihan’s Sued For Allegedly Pocketing Workers’ Tips, Not Paying Overtime
By 10.2.15
A New Jersey company that operates 17 Houlihan’s restaurants in the state is being sued by the U.S. Department of Labor over claims that bosses were skimming tips from employees, to the tune of $40,000 that should’ve gone into tipped workers’ pockets, but instead were allegedly “unlawfully” distributed to non-tipped employees. [More]
Bank Of America Reportedly Settles Overtime Lawsuit For $36 Million
By 8.28.15
When working a few extra hours, you have a reasonable expectation to be compensated for that time. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always happen, which was the case for nearly 400 employees of Bank of America who sued the company alleging it failed to pay them overtime. Now, the company has agreed to settle the case, providing $36 million to the wronged employees. [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]
President To Issue Order Expanding Number Of Workers Eligible For Overtime
By 3.12.14
Under current guidelines, most people earning more than $455/week (about $24K/year) are ineligible for overtime pay, but multiple news reports claim that President Obama is set to issue an executive order that would increase the number of people able to collect those extra wages. [More]
Determining The Value Of Your Free Time
By 4.12.12
Unless you’re a salaried employee or business owner who’s expected to work excessively for the good of the company, the more hours you work usually determines how much you’ll make. The prospect of working overtime or taking on a side job can be compelling, helping you save by having less time to go out and spend the money you’re piling up. [More]
Target Manager Sues, Says Was Fired For Working Through Lunch
By 10.18.11
An ex-Target manager is suing his former employer, accusing the retailer of firing him for working during his lunch break. Ironically, he says it was retaliation for the complaints he had made about being denied uninterrupted breaks. [More]
Working Too Hard May Kill You
By 5.12.10
A new study out of the U.K. has some bad news for overachievers: Working 10-11 hours a day on a regular basis can increase your risk of heart disease by close to two-thirds. Out of a group of 6,000 civil servants, the study found 369 cases “where people suffered heart disease that caused death, had a heart attack or developed angina.” [More]
Foxconn Workers In Mexico Revolt, Set Factory On Fire
By 2.20.10
Gizmodo reports, based on a story in the subscription-only El Norte, that workers in a Foxconn factory in Juarez, Mexico became enraged and set the building on fire. Supervisors had misled the workers into working unpaid overtime. A delightful follow-up to the Reuters report about a Foxconn security guard threatening a foreign reporter. [Gizmodo] (Thanks, GitEmSteveDave!) [More]
Macy's Confirms It Never Did Business With Queens Sweatshop
By 7.30.08
Last week, news broke that a sweatshop in Queens, NYC was producing clothing for several large U.S. retailers, while overworking its mainly Chinese immigrant employees and cheating them out of wages. At the time, Macy’s announced it was cooperating with New York’s Department of Labor and investigating the matter internally. Now the company has confirmed that it never did business with the sweatshop—in fact, it investigated it twice in 2007 while evaluating potential suppliers and rejected it for shoddy record keeping. Use your crazy Macy’s coupons all you want, readers.
