Atlanta Employment Attorneys Blog

FMLA Rights, Workplace Discipline, and ‘Temporal Proximity’ in Federal Retaliation Cases

August 30, 2024 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

The Family and Medical Leave Act provides workers with many important statutory rights, including ones designed to protect employees from inappropriate workplace punishment for exercising their rights, or wrongful denial of benefits. These rights and protections are not unlimited, and they are not a “straitjacket” on employers preventing them from administering workplace discipline on workers who seek or use FMLA benefits. Employers may, in some situations, discipline – or even fire – a worker who has requested, has used, or is on FMLA leave. If you have questions about using FMLA benefits and issuing workplace discipline, get the advice you need by consulting a knowledgeable Atlanta FMLA retaliation lawyer as soon as possible.

Earlier this year, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals (which covers federal actions in Georgia, Florida, and Alabama) looked into this issue of the interplay between workplace discipline and FMLA rights.

The employee, M.C., was a parks and recreation department worker for a city government in Florida. The employee received his requested FMLA leave forms in April 2018. City rules set a 15-day deadline for returning FMLA paperwork. M.C. returned his incomplete paperwork on July 12, more than three months after first receiving the forms.

Collective Actions Under the Fair Labor Standards Act and Federal Court Jurisdiction in Georgia

August 23, 2024 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

Collective actions (which are highly similar to class actions except they litigate workers’ Fair Labor Standards Act claims against their employers) are occurring more frequently. This reality serves as a reminder of the importance, as an employer, of ensuring complete compliance when it comes to the minimum wage, overtime, classification, and other pay practices covered by the FLSA. If you are a worker who has been denied the pay the FLSA requires – or you are an employer with questions about the FLSA and FLSA collective actions – you should make sure you have reliable answers and information. You can do that by getting your advice from an experienced Atlanta wage and hour lawyer.

Like class actions, collective actions may include both named plaintiffs and additional plaintiffs who subsequently “opt-in.” Some employers, when facing collective actions far from their “home” base of operations, have used the presence of these “opt-in” plaintiffs to fight the collective action on jurisdictional grounds, including one employer that scored a successful outcome recently.

The employer, a Texas-based construction company, employed workers to construct, among other things, buildings that housed livestock. A Wisconsin employee sued the employer in a federal court in that state, alleging that the employer illegally underpaid him by wrongfully classifying him as exempt under the agricultural worker exemption.

The Importance of Proper Documentation — Including Medical Certification — in the FMLA Leave Process

August 16, 2024 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

Whether you are a worker who needs to take time off from work or an employer, it is well worth your while to become familiar with the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and its rights and obligations. The FMLA offers essential rights to certain employees, but those rights are lost if the worker does not follow the proper procedures. Employers who fail to respond appropriately after a worker puts them on notice that an absence may be covered by the FMLA can face serious consequences. Whichever side you are on, it pays to contact a knowledgeable Atlanta FMLA leave lawyer and get the complete and accurate information you need.

As noted above, thorough documentation is key – whether that is proof of your compliance with the rules or the other side’s failure to do so. The recent FMLA interference case of an employee fired three days after returning from leave highlights this truth.

The employee, G.M., was one of two engineering assistants at a petroleum company. In August 2018, the assistant emailed her boss, stating that “some personal issues have come about at home that require my immediate attention so I will not be in today and I will need to take some time off for the next several weeks as well.” The assistant estimated that she would be out roughly 3-4 weeks.

The FLSA’s Pay Practice Rules Regarding Inclement Weather-Related Business Closures

August 12, 2024 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

Compliance with the federal overtime compensation and the minimum wage standards can be affected by many things… even the weather. These wide and varied influences on businesses’ compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act (and accompanying regulations) serve as a reminder that ensuring compliance is an extensive and multifaceted project. Whether you are an employer seeking to ensure your pay practices are compliant or a worker denied proper compensation, an experienced Atlanta wage and hour lawyer can advise you about your rights and obligations.

Hurricane Debby struck Florida earlier this month as a Category 1 storm but quickly entered Georgia packing tropical storm-force winds and massive volumes of rain. The storm forced schools, government offices, and businesses to close across South Georgia, including Savannah and Brunswick.

In North Georgia, our businesses are more likely to close temporarily because of snow and ice rather than tropical weather, but closures do happen. Employers may reasonably wonder what their pay obligations are under the FLSA when workers are not at work because of weather-related closures.

Resolving a Minimum Wage Lawsuit… and Steps to Reduce Risk Before Problems Arise

July 31, 2024 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

As an employer, there are many ways to resolve a minimum wage dispute. Sometimes, there is no way within your control to keep the matter from going to trial but, oftentimes, options to avoid time-consuming and potentially expensive litigation exist if you desire to pursue them. When you are facing a potential Fair Labor Standards Act issue, a knowledgeable Atlanta wage and hour lawyer can provide assistance on many fronts. Your legal team can investigate the issue, determine what happened, and then advise you regarding the strengths and weaknesses of your position, in addition to advising you about all your options and which one makes the most sense, whether that is settling, arbitrating, or litigating.

A skilled advocate can also spot when the best solution is none of those. A 2024 case to our north is an example of such a solution.

In January, a server at a Tennessee Waffle House restaurant sued her employer for minimum wage violations of the FLSA.

What a Congressional Bill Could Mean to Georgia Employers When It Comes to FLSA Compliance… and the Penalties Attached to Violations

July 25, 2024 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

Across the country, many state and local governments are enacting – or debating — legislation to combat wage theft. Another body considering statutory changes is the federal government, where a proposed bill would substantially increase the penalties on employers found to have violated the FLSA’s prohibitions against wage theft. Whether you are a worker who has been denied pay you were owed or yours is a business seeking to ensure statutory compliance, get the answers you need by consulting an experienced Atlanta wage and hour lawyer.

Governments that have recently enacted, or are debating, new wage theft laws include Oregon, California, Minnesota, New York State, and the City of Denver, to name a few.

The proposal pending in the U.S. House of Representatives, which has come up in each of the last two Congresses, is a bill called the “Wage Theft Prevention and Wage Recovery Act.”

Firing a Worker on FMLA Leave and the Law of FMLA Retaliation

July 17, 2024 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

Sometimes, a worker’s requesting or taking Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) will cause an unethical employer to fire that employee wrongfully. Other times, though, a legally compliant employer legitimately needs to fire an employee on FMLA leave. Whether you are an employee caught in the former scenario or an employer thrust into the latter circumstance, you need a clear understanding of your FMLA rights and responsibilities, which is where the advice of an experienced Atlanta FMLA leave lawyer can be vital.

An example of the latter of those two FMLA situations occurred in a case that ended in federal litigation recently. The lawsuit pitted a municipal employer against one of its park employees.

The employee, M.M., was an assistant park manager who started and maintained a food pantry at the park’s family center. In early 2022, the city’s HR team enlisted a local police detective to investigate allegations that the manager had been unloading donated pantry items at her home and keeping them for herself

Lessons About Exempt Versus Non-exempt Classifications from a Recent Call Center Employee Case

July 11, 2024 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

As an employer or an employee, compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act is important to you. If you are a worker, non-compliance often means denial of the total compensation the law says your employer owes you. As an employer, non-compliance can have numerous damaging and costly consequences. If you have questions about FLSA compliance, including classification and exemption issues, make sure you are getting reliable answers by contacting an experienced Atlanta wage and hour lawyer.

For employers, misclassification is a common basis for FSA violation liability. Errors can occur in the context of employer-versus-independent contractor classifications or exempt-employee-versus-non-exempt-employee determinations. When deeming a worker as an exempt employee, it is important to identify all bases under which that worker may be exempt under the law, as a recent ruling from the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals illustrates.

The unpaid overtime case involved an auto dealership group in West Palm Beach, Florida, and three of its call center employees. The employees, who worked in the dealership’s “business development center,” a separate building next door to the dealership’s auto showroom, spoke to prospective car buyers over the phone to convince them to make appointments to visit the showroom and speak with showroom salespersons.

The Emergence of AI in the Workplace and How AI Can Potentially Contribute to FLSA Violations

June 28, 2024 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

These days, ads for artificial intelligence-related programs and applications seem to be everywhere. AI has the potential to do many beneficial things like making workplaces more efficient and safer. It also has the possibility of negative impacts, including in the area of employment law. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) recently released a publication warning of ways that AI can lead employers into violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Whether or not they are tied to AI, an experienced Atlanta wage and hour lawyer can provide very human answers to all your questions about FLSA compliance.

The WHD’s recent publication, Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2024-1, looked at ways AI could lead an employer into non-compliance. The first area the division discussed was AI productivity monitors.

Modern AI technology can monitor workers “in real time,” using metrics like website browsing, the number of computer keystrokes or mouse clicks, or eye movements (via webcam,) to ascertain an employee’s activity and productivity levels. While employers may use this technology and these metrics to assess employees’ diligence and productivity, those determinations do not necessarily govern how the law calculates workers’ hours worked.

Recent Actions by the U.S. Department of Labor Point to Ways Employers May Run Afoul of Rules Governing Tipped Worker Pay

June 21, 2024 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

Many bartenders, restaurant servers, and others in the hospitality industry depend on tips for a substantial portion of their compensation. In these industries, minimum wage and overtime disputes are common, whether they arise from good-faith recordkeeping errors or intentional misconduct by employers. Whether you are an employer or a tipped employee, look to an experienced Atlanta wage and hour lawyer when you have questions about the laws and regulations regarding tipped work.

If you are a tipped employee or your team includes tipped employees, it is important to understand thoroughly the FLSA and the Labor Department’s rules regarding tipped workers.

The FLSA bars employers from paying tipped workers only in tips. Minimum wage law requires employers of tipped workers to pay those employees sub-minimum wages, but that sub-minimum floor is not zero. For states that do not have standards above the FLSA requirement, federal law controls.