FLSA Category Archives — Page 4 of 12 — Atlanta Employment Attorneys Blog Published by Atlanta, Georgia Employment Lawyers

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.”

Sovereign Immunity and Successfully Pursuing an Unpaid Overtime Claim Against Your Public Employer in Georgia

August 18, 2023 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

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 overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. If you have questions or concerns about those rights or responsibilities, you should seek out knowledgeable answers from an experienced Atlanta unpaid overtime lawyer.

If you’re suing a state agency, sovereign immunity may be an argument you encounter. A recent overtime dispute between the state’s Department of Public Safety (DPS) and state troopers highlights a situation where workers were able to overcome a state agency’s assertion of immunity.

R.J. was one of several hundred men and women hired as state troopers with the Georgia State Patrol between 2014 and 2020. The DPS requires all of its state troopers to attend (and graduate from) a mandatory “trooper school.”

FLSA Exemptions and the Burden of Proof in a Federal Unpaid Overtime Case in Georgia

August 11, 2023 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

A recent unpaid overtime ruling, while not occurring here in Georgia, is potentially significant to workers and employers here who find themselves embroiled in a dispute regarding the applicability of an exemption to the overtime pay requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The recent case involved the proper burden of proof for proving an overtime exemption. Things like that may sound minute to a layperson, but issues like burdens of proof can swing a success to a defeat or vice versa. Given all the legal details essential to presenting and winning an unpaid overtime case, as well as the high stakes involved, it is worth your while to seek out an experienced Atlanta unpaid overtime lawyer to represent you.

The employees were sales representatives working for a food products distributor. The representatives sued the employer for unpaid overtime in violation of the FLSA. The employer countered by asserting that the representatives fell within the “outside sales” exemption, which meant that the employer had no legal obligation to pay overtime compensation.

The workers went to trial in a Maryland federal court and won. The court concluded that the law required the employer to prove the application of the exemption by “clear and convincing evidence,” and that the distributor did not clear that hurdle.

When Tolling Will — and Won’t — Save an Unpaid Overtime Case Filed After the FLSA’s Statute of Limitations Has Elapsed

July 10, 2023 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

It’s highly important to recognize all of the procedural demands involved in unpaid overtime cases. This is critical both from the perspective of ensuring that you’ve done everything the rules mandate and also from the perspective of taking proper steps to strengthen your position when the opposing side fails to meet its procedural obligations. Whether you’re a worker pursuing a claim or an employer defending against one, an Atlanta unpaid overtime lawyer can help you in all of these regards.

One of the more basic procedural hurdles is the statute of limitations. When it comes to unpaid overtime claims brought under the Fair Labor Standards Act, federal law says the worker generally must do so within two years.

That statute of limitations was at the center of one recent unpaid overtime case upon which the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals (whose decisions directly control federal cases in Georgia, Florida, and Alabama) ruled.

When a Reduction of a Worker’s ‘Regular Rate’ of Pay Crosses from a Permissible Modification to an Illegal Dodge of the Requirements Imposed by the FLSA

May 31, 2023 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

Employers have several tools at their disposal to cut costs, including the expenses that go with paying their workers. The law gives employers considerable latitude in modifying workers’ pay if those workers have begun putting in longer hours but, as any knowledgeable Atlanta unpaid overtime lawyer can tell you, when an employer cuts a worker’s regular rate of pay in an artificial way that’s designed to get around complying with the overtime rules of the Fair Labor Standards Act, that a violation of the law.

One potential way an employer can run afoul of the statute is to create two different “regular” rates of pay, with the goal of using the lesser of the two as the basis for calculating overtime pay, thereby artificially depressing the amount of overtime compensation the workers would receive.

That’s what one security guard alleged in his FLSA lawsuit against his employer. When the guard started his employment, the employer paid him $13 per hour and the guard worked 40-hour weeks.