In late 2019, the salary threshold for exempting an employee from overtime pay was lowered. In March 2024, the Department of Labor (DOL) raised the threshold, expanding the number of employees eligible for overtime pay. However, by late 2024, the salary level reverted to the previous lower levels established during the first Trump administration in 2019. This updated threshold reduces the number of employees exempt from overtime. While these wage requirements have fluctuated in recent years, one constant remains—the duties test.

Question: We have an employee who recently passed away. He wasn’t married, didn’t have a will, and didn’t have company life insurance or death benefits. How do we handle his final paycheck? Do we continue with our regular payroll procedures, should we wait for the beneficiary for his estate to be identified, or something else?

And so it goes: Employers come to the crossroad—designate a worker as an employee or as an independent contractor. A lot rides on the path taken. Erroneously pick contractor, and you’re on the hook for unpaid overtime, often on a class action basis. The money owed can add up—fast!

And so it goes: Employers come to the crossroad—designate a worker as an employee or as an independent contractor. A lot rides on the path taken. Erroneously pick contractor, and you’re on the hook for unpaid overtime, often on a class action basis. The money owed can add up fast!

Employers aren’t required to pay nonexempt employees for the time they spend commuting between their home and work to begin their workday or after ending their workday. Travel time during the workday is often compensable, however, and should be recorded and counted as hours worked for potential overtime. A home health agency recently learned this the hard way.

The “standard of proof” is an important issue in litigation. Usually, it’s the burden a suing employee has to prove all elements of their case. But it’s the employer’s burden to show that an employee is “exempt” from the requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Is it enough for the employer to prove that point by a “preponderance of the evidence”—meaning that it is more likely than not? Or must the employer meet the higher standard of “clear and convincing evidence”—a standard that commands the assent of every reasonable mind? As a recent U.S. Supreme Court case demonstrates, the standard of proof often determines the outcome.

Lilly Ledbetter, an unintentional icon in the fight for equal pay, passed away on October 12, 2024, at the age of 86. Ledbetter filed a lawsuit in 1999 that sparked an equal pay movement throughout the United States. More than 25 years later, pay disparities still exist in every state. Over the years, Massachusetts has implemented a number of legislative measures to achieve pay parity. Have they been effective?