A case from outside Georgia serves as a useful reminder to employers and employees alike regarding the Fair Labor Standards Act’s rules regarding “rounding” time a worker works each day. The overarching concept that you need to know is this: if an employer’s rounding policy results in an outcome where,…
Articles Posted in Wage & Hour
Which Workers Are (and Aren’t) Exempt from Overtime Compensation as a Result of Their Executive Duties
In the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare asked the timeless literary question, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet.” Those lines highlight the truth that changing a name or a title does not, by itself, change…
Sovereign Immunity and Successfully Pursuing an Unpaid Overtime Claim Against Your Public Employer in Georgia
Sometimes, an unpaid overtime case is relatively straightforward. Other times, though, unpaid overtime cases can involve many layers and complexities, including issues like an employer’s potential immunity from liability. Whether you are an employee or an employer, it is crucially important to understand all of your rights and responsibilities under…
The U.S. Labor Department Issues New Guidance on the Rights of Breastfeeding Workers and the Responsibilities Their Employers Have Toward Them
A few months ago, this blog looked at the impact of the Fair Labor Standards Act on remote workers, including new moms who are breastfeeding or expressing milk during the workday. Today, we’re going to look at a related but separate group: pumping moms working at the employer’s worksite. Whether…
A New Wage and Hour Ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court and Its Potential Impact on Some High-Earners in Georgia
In an important new ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court recently clarified the standards under which a worker does (or does not) qualify as a salaried exempt employee for purposes of overtime compensation. The 6-3 decision in favor of an oil rig worker clarifies that just because an employee earns a…
The Impact of the Fair Labor Standards Act and Break Rules on Georgia Employees Who Work from Home
Today, remote work is more common than ever before, with much of explosion coming in the last 2-3 years. With that vast growth of people working from home comes new and different ways that employers can run afoul of federal wage and hour laws. If you’re a non-exempt employee working…
What Happens if My Employer Takes an Automatic Pay Deduction for Meal Breaks But I Did Not Actually Get My Break?
In wage and hour law, as with any area of the law, there are issues that arise with elevated frequency at certain moments in time. (For example, a few years ago the courts saw a flurry of employee-versus-independent-contractor misclassification cases involving exotic dancers.) More recently, an issue before multiple different…
That Time You Spend Logging On (and Off) Your Work Computer May Be Compensable Under Federal Law
Today, more and more workers do their jobs via a computer. As most computer-based workers know, getting into (and out of) the programs and/or applications necessary to do your job can be time-consuming. What you may not know, however, is that the time spent waiting on a computer could be…
Working for Food? What the Law Says About Non-Traditional Methods of Compensating Workers
There are lots of reasons an employer might want to pay a worker or former employee in an unconventional way. It might be a marketing promotion, it might be an attempt to embrace cutting-edge currencies, or it might be a passive-aggressive expression of hostility. Whatever the reason, workers and employers…
Federal Court Remands Georgia Man’s Employment Law Case to State Court Due to Lack of Diversity Jurisdiction
Generally speaking, the person who files an Atlanta employment law case gets choose the court (state or federal) in which the matter will ultimately be tried. However, there are some situations in which this is not so. For instance, the employee may choose to file his or her lawsuit in…