Preparing for the DOL's Final Rule on FSLA's 'White-Collar' Exemptions
The salary level proposed in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) published in the Federal Register in July 2015 would more than double the current salary level for "white-collar" employees to be exempt from the FLSA's overtime requirements. Such an increase in the salary level would have wide-reaching implications for employers and employees alike.
Features
Employers, Watch Out
Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010, employers have grappled with the law's web of rules and requirements. However, many employers are not as familiar with the Act's whistleblower protections ' an additional source of risk for the unwary.
Columns & Departments
Case Notes
U.S. Judge Tosses Qui Tam Action Against Lockheed Martin A federal judge has dismissed a qui tam case in which would-be whistleblowers raised allegations that aerospace giant Lockheed Martin billed the government for cost overruns and failed to disclose shoddy work. U.S. District Judge Kim R. Gibson of the Western District of Pennsylvania gave one of the two relators leave to file an amended complaint, leaving the door open for further action in the case. …
Features
Problems with the New Test for Joint-Employer Status
This past summer, the NLRB reversed over 30 years of precedent and adopted a new, more expansive and ambiguous standard for determining joint employer status. The new standard promises to entangle businesses with only tenuous links to another employer's workforce in a morass of collective-bargaining obligations and unfair labor practice liability for workforces over which they exercise no actual control.
Features
Mobile Mayhem: Smartphones and Security (Or the Lack Thereof)
BYOD implementation can come in a wide variety of different formulations, but it essentially means that employees are choosing their own hardware and, to one degree or another, mixing personal and business use on a device. This means personal devices with no control from employers other than perhaps some unmonitored, unenforced, and mostly unread policy guidance.
Wage and Hour Red Flags
Last month, we discussed the fact that many California employers, despite their best intentions, are frequently hit with costly wage and hour claims and lawsuits by their employees, as well as the Labor Commissioner's own enforcement agency. We conclude herein with points 9 through 16.
Protecting Your Company's Data from Security Breaches
This article explores some steps counsel can take to protect their organizations from a data breach, and how counsel can proactively help to mitigate any adverse impact in the unfortunate event a data breach occurs.
Features
<b><i>Online Extra:</b></i> Florida: Uber Drivers Are Contractors, Not Employees
Uber drivers in Florida will be considered independent contractors rather than employees, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity determined on Dec. 3 in a victory for the app-based ridesharing company.
Features
Wage and Hour Red Flags
Many California employers are hit with costly wage and hour claims and lawsuits by their employees, as well as the Labor Commissioner's own enforcement agency. Some of these claims are legitimate, some are not, but employers must defend against all such claims, often incurring hefty attorneys' fees in the process.
Features
Employee-Related Litigation
Business bankruptcy filings are down significantly from their high point during the Great Recession. What appears to have replaced foreclosures and institutional debt issues as the straw that breaks the camel's back is litigation. In many cases seen locally (in the Central District of California), the nature of litigation that pushes a company over the line comes in the form of employee-related causes of action.
Need Help?
- Prefer an IP authenticated environment? Request a transition or call 800-756-8993.
- Need other assistance? email Customer Service or call 1-877-256-2472.
MOST POPULAR STORIES
- The DOJ's New Parameters for Evaluating Corporate Compliance ProgramsThe parameters set forth in the DOJ's memorandum have implications not only for the government's evaluation of compliance programs in the context of criminal charging decisions, but also for how defense counsel structure their conference-room advocacy seeking declinations or lesser sanctions in both criminal and civil investigations.Read More ›
- Use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements In White Collar InvestigationsThis article discusses the practical and policy reasons for the use of DPAs and NPAs in white-collar criminal investigations, and considers the NDAA's new reporting provision and its relationship with other efforts to enhance transparency in DOJ decision-making.Read More ›
- The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year LaterThe DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.Read More ›
- Marketing Analytics: More Is Not Always BestIn the past few decades, law firms have made great strides in catching up with the rest of the corporate world and are reaping the benefits of all kinds of marketing. This acceptance by firm management is in great part due to an increased appreciation of analytics, made possible by digital marketing and social media.Read More ›
- When Efficiency Meets the Duty to Verify: Reflections on The Verification-Value ParadoxThe Verification-Value Paradox states that increases in efficiency from AI use “will be met by a correspondingly greater imperative to manually verify” the outputs. The result is that the net value of AI in many legal contexts may be negligible once verification is honestly accounted for. For low-stakes tasks, verification costs are light. For core legal work, verification costs are heavy. That’s the tension.Read More ›
