FLSA Category Archives — Page 4 of 13 — Atlanta Employment Attorneys Blog Published by Atlanta, Georgia Employment Lawyers

The Consequences of Employees Working Off the Clock

December 8, 2023 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

Workers can encounter many forms of misconduct that amount to violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act. One of these issues relates to work performed off the clock. Whether you are an employee or an employer, if you have questions about unpaid hours and the FLSA, be sure to get in touch with an experienced Atlanta wage and hour lawyer to understand thoroughly your rights and responsibilities.

A major insurance company — whose CGI mascot is widely popular and seemingly ubiquitous on some television sports broadcasts — has found itself accused of multiple FLSA violations in the last few years, with the most recent action proceeding just to our south in the Middle District of Georgia federal court.

The employees were sales representatives who worked in the insurer’s call center in Macon. They alleged that the employer improperly forced them to perform essential job-related tasks before or after hours or during breaks, including booting up and shutting down their computers, responding to emails during meal periods, and staying late if their computer terminals malfunctioned during the day.

The Many Details That Go Into Successfully Settling a FLSA Lawsuit in Georgia

November 22, 2023 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

In a lot of civil cases, settling the matter is pretty straightforward. The parties will work out mutually agreeable terms, someone will prepare a written settlement agreement, and barring exceptional circumstances, the court will accept the settlement and dismiss the case. FLSA cases — and settlements — are a bit different and somewhat more complicated. There is a wider array of situations where, even if the parties have genuinely agreed, the court may reject a settlement. Working with a knowledgeable Atlanta wage and hour lawyer can enhance your odds of avoiding this kind of money and time-consuming situation.

When parties to a FLSA case filed in a federal court in Georgia, Florida, or Alabama seek to settle, they must comply with what the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals wrote in the 1982 case of Lynn’s Food Stores, Inc. v. United States. The Lynn’s Food ruling says that any acceptable settlement must be a “fair and reasonable resolution of a bona fide dispute over FLSA issues.”

One example of a settlement executed correctly comes from the federal court in Orlando, Florida. The employee was a handyman who worked for a local social services organization for two years and two months. During that time, the handyman allegedly worked more than 40 hours a week on several occasions. Despite this, the employer never paid him overtime compensation, according to his complaint.

How a Georgia Employer’s Methods for Paying Workers Ultimately Cost It Tens of Thousands of Dollars

November 8, 2023 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

What started as a dispute over a few hundred dollars ended with an Atlanta-area employer paying nearly $40,000. That outcome is a useful lesson to employers on several fronts. One, always maintain legally compliant pay records, including pay rates, hours worked, and sums paid. Two, always make sure that you are paying your non-exempt workers proper time-and-a-half overtime when they work more than 40 hours in a week. And three, if you feel the urge to pay wages that you owe under the Fair Labor Standards Act in a way that smacks of revenge… don’t. Just issue a check and move on. It’ll be cheaper and better for your business in the long run. If you have any questions about your rights and responsibilities under the FLSA, make sure you consult with a knowledgeable Atlanta wage and hour lawyer.

The original dispute, which received relatively broad coverage as a result of its peculiar facts, pitted a Peachtree City auto repair shop against one of its former employees. The disagreement began after the employee, A.F., contacted the U.S. Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division to complain that his employer had not paid him his final paycheck, which amounted to $915.

Rather than simply cutting a check, the employer obtained 91,500 pennies, covered them in automotive fluids, and then delivered them to A.F.’s driveway. To remove doubts regarding motivation, the employer stuffed the man’s pay stub in an envelope with “[expletive] you!” written on the outside. The pile of pennies weighed more than 500 pounds and took more than seven hours to remove from the man’s driveway.

An Unpaid Overtime Case from Atlanta Sheds Light on the Importance of Keeping Good Pay Records

October 24, 2023 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

An Atlanta wrecker and towing service found itself in court after two drivers accused it of illegally failing to pay them the overtime compensation they were properly due under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The court’s summary judgment ruling in the case includes vital lessons for employers when it comes to the importance of maintaining clear and thorough pay records, as well as the risks involved in handing off FLSA compliance to a third party. If you’re facing an unpaid overtime claim (or pursuing one,) representation from a knowledgeable Atlanta wage and hour lawyer can be essential to your success.

The drivers typically worked 4-5 12-hour shifts each week. The employer paid its driver a straight commission weekly that was “calculated as a percentage of the total revenue they derived from the tows they performed that week.” For one driver that percentage was 30%, for the other it was 35%.

As noted above keeping clear, understandable, and accurate time and pay records for all employees can be crucial to any business.

The U.S. Department of Labor Proposes a Major Modification in the Salary Threshold Tied to the FLSA’s Executive and Administrative Exemptions

September 30, 2023 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

Earlier this year, the Fair Labor Standards Act celebrated its 85th anniversary. Later this year, the executive and administrative exemptions will also turn 85 years old. The FLSA helps ensure workers receive fair compensation, while the exemptions provide important aid to employers. Whether you are an employer or an employee, it’s important to understand what the FLSA and its exemptions do (and don’t) require. If you have questions, get in touch with a skilled Atlanta wage-and-hour lawyer to get the knowledgeable answers you need.

When the federal government created the first salary threshold for the executive and administrative exemptions in 1938, that number was $1,560 annually. By 1949, the figure was $5,200.

Currently, the minimum salary an employer can pay and also claim the executive or administrative exemption is $684 per week, or just over $35,500. If a proposed rule from the U.S. Department of Labor takes effect as written, that figure will — for the first time — climb above $50,000 annually, at $1,059 per week, or just slightly above $55,000 annually.

How a Workplace’s Time Clock Rounding Policy May Constitute a FLSA Violation

September 25, 2023 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

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, over time, workers are not compensated “properly for all the time they have actually worked,” then that policy may represent an FLSA violation. If you have questions about a time rounding policy, make sure to get reliable answers by consulting an experienced Atlanta wage and hour lawyer.

The recent case involved a Kansas City-based health system and a large class of its workers. The health system used a popular computer software-based timekeeping system, Kronos Workforce Timekeeper.

The employer had a rounding policy where a “clock-in” or “clock-out” that occurred within six minutes of the scheduled shift start or end time was rounded. In other words, a worker who clocked in at 8:04 for an 8:00 shift was paid as if she arrived at 8:00. Similarly, a worker who clocked out at 6:05 for a shift ending at 6:00 was paid as if she left at 6:00.

Which Workers Are (and Aren’t) Exempt from Overtime Compensation as a Result of Their Executive Duties

September 18, 2023 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

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 the named item’s inherent identity and characteristics. This also can be true in employment law where, just because a job title sounds like a managerial role, the reality of the work you do every day may indicate that your job actually is something very different, which can matter a great deal when it comes to overtime compensation. If you have questions about exempt status or possible unpaid overtime, you should take the time to get reliable answers by contacting a knowledgeable Atlanta wage and hour lawyer.

Recently, this blog looked at the administrative exemption to the overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Today, we focus on another exemption that generates disputes with some frequency: the executive exemption. In many instances, these disputes involve managers at retail establishments who spend most of their workdays doing non-managerial work.

Last month, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals (whose decisions guide federal cases in Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee) considered one of these matters and ruled for the employer.

When an Employer Can — and Can’t — Use a Statutory Exemption Argument as a Stopper Against an Unpaid Overtime Claim

September 11, 2023 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

In some ways, wage and hour law can be like the game of bridge. Each has various sets of rules that can layer on top of (or intertwine with) one another. In each setting, the difference between success and defeat often can come down to which side understands, utilizes, and deploys those concepts more effectively. If you have questions about the law of overtime compensation, be sure to get in touch with an experienced Atlanta wage and hour lawyer (who may or may not be able to help you with your bridge game.)

Why do we bring up bridge? In this instance, it’s because some employees of the world’s largest contract bridge league recently scored a win in their unpaid overtime lawsuit.

In 2018, the league reorganized its Field Operations Department, creating four new salaried roles: Area Manager, Mentor, National Tournament Director, and Associate National Tournament Director.

The Ins and Outs of Successfully Settling a FLSA Case in a Georgia Federal Court

August 31, 2023 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

A pair of unsuccessful attempts to settle two Fair Labor Standards Act lawsuits in Georgia are very instructive about how FLSA settlements work. One crucial concept to know is that settling an FLSA case requires clearing more hurdles than, say, settling an ordinary auto accident case. Whether you are seeking to settle your FLSA case or litigate it all the way to a judgment, an experienced Atlanta wage-and-hour lawyer can help you protect your legal rights and your individual interests.

Typically, in most civil lawsuits, the only thing necessary to consummate a settlement is for the parties to agree to a set of terms. As a Middle District of Georgia judge noted in a July 2023 opinion, that’s not true with FLSA cases. In these lawsuits, the law requires the court to review and approve any settlement.

The crux of this review and analysis process is ensuring the settlement’s reasonableness. A Northern District opinion — also from last month — explained that the judge must ensure the settlement “is a fair and reasonable resolution of a bona fide dispute over FLSA provisions,” and must consider “both the rights of the settling employee and the interests of the public at large.”

When the Time Spent Putting on and Taking off Specialized Attire or Protective Gear Is — and Isn’t — Compensable

August 25, 2023 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

An internet meme about lawyers mines humor from the frequency with which attorneys answer questions with “It depends.” Truthfully, “it depends” very often is the right answer, as many legal disputes that appear similar may yield vastly differing results depending on any number of (or sometimes just a few) key factual distinctions. A reply of “it depends” reflects the many wrinkles and nuances within areas of the law, and that includes wage-and-hour law. That’s why, if you have questions about whether something is or is not compensable time under the Fair Labor Standards Act, it is wise to seek out knowledgeable answers from an experienced Atlanta wage-and-hour lawyer.

As a case in point, we can compare and contrast two cases regarding the compensability of time spent donning and removal of safety gear.

In the more recent unpaid hours dispute, the workers were a group of rig hands who worked for an oil company in Pennsylvania. As part of its set of safety rules, the employer required its rig hands to put on “flame-retardant coveralls, steel-toed boots, hard hats, safety glasses, gloves, and earplugs.”