When an employer changes its shift schedule to accommodate employees, the mere fact that pay rates were changed between the old and new scheduling in an attempt to keep overall pay revenue-neutral, does not establish a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime pay requirements, the Ninth Circuit rules.

The employer in the case had scheduled its employees to work almost exclusivel Read more

Two employers operating related restaurants must pay liquidated damages to employees who were not properly paid for overtime while working in dual restaurants, the Eighth Circuit rules.
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In computing the regular rate for overtime purposes, the employer may not average on-call compensation paid in a specific workweek over a two-week period, according to a recently released U. S. Dept. of Labor opinion letter.
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The U.S. Dept. of Labor proposes to revise “a number of out-of-date regulations” under the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Portal-to-Portal Act.
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The U.S. Dept. of Labor has a new overtime calculator — to help employers and workers understand and calculate overtime pay. Read more

The U.S. Dept. of Labor has a new tool for companies confused about federal overtime requirements and how to calculate overtime, especially if the company is on a semi-monthly pay period. The calculator is interactive, and will prompt examination of exempt status, regular rate, hours worked, and the work week. Read more

Wal-Mart agreed to pay $33,484,499 plus interest to workers for incorrectly computing overtime, including paying time and a half after 45-48 hours worked (instead of after 40) in the workweek; failing to include nondiscretionary premiums, incentives and bonuses in the calculation; and incorrectly computing OT on a biweekly rather than weekly basis, ( Categories : Overtime )

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Misclassifying several groups of workers, including assistant store managers of newly acquired stores, as exempt from overtime will cost Levi Strauss & Co. $1,011,413 in overtime back wages nationwide, according to the U.S. Dept. of Labor Wage and Hour Division. Read more

A company’s method of compensating its call-center employees constituted a commission under the Fair Labor Standards Act, thus triggering the retail commission exception to overtime payments, the Third Circuit rules, rejecting the Dept. of Labor’s contention that qualifying commissions must be “linked to the cost of the product sold or services provided to the customer.” Read more