Those familiar with the oil and gas industry know workers are often paid a day rate. For some, the pay can be lucrative. One such worker was Michael Hewitt, a tool pusher for Helix Energy Solutions Group. He was paid $963 each day he worked on a "hitch" - usually a period of two weeks on and two weeks off - and made more than $200,000 annually. Hewitt sued Helix, alleging he wasn’t paid a "salary" as defined by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and was therefore entitled to overtime. The U.S. Supreme Court announced it will now determine if his day rate can be considered a salary.

A recent study revealed that more than 200,000 Virginia workers have been misclassified as independent contractors, and this alone has cost the Commonwealth approximately $28 million in tax revenues each year. To curb the practice and to generate revenue for the state, in 2020 the Virginia legislature enacted a beefed-up Wage Payment Act, which took effect last year and has some real teeth.

The benefits of summer internships are mutual: Companies create an accessible group of potential future hires, while interns obtain real-world workplace experience and training, as well as valuable networking opportunities. But many employers may be wondering: Do we have to pay our interns? If so, how much do we have to pay them? And what other issues do we need to consider?

The Massachusetts Wage Act requires employees to be paid within set time frames. The Wage Act carries stiff penalties, including mandatory triple damages for violations and attorneys’ fees and costs. For years, employers believed, and lower courts agreed, that so long as an employer remedied a late payment under the Wage Act before an employee filed a lawsuit, the employee couldn’t recover triple damages on the late payment. But a recent case decided by the state’s highest court turns that belief on its head.

Currently, only one state does not have an equal pay law. That state is Mississippi. Absent a veto from Governor Tate Reeves, however, on July 1, 2022, Mississippi will join all other states when its equal pay law goes into effect. Let’s take a closer look.

In the current battle to hire and retain good workers, employers have developed creative ways to balance employees’ increased compensation expectations against the costs of running a business. In addition, restaurants using the tip credit have the extra administrative difficulties of making sure their tipped employees are being paid enough in tips to meet the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) minimum wage and overtime requirements. A recent federal appeals court opinion reviewed one restaurant’s creative tactic to address the challenges by paying tipped employees their wages from monies collected as part of a mandatory service charge.

Since last year’s monumental Supreme Court decision curtailing the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) ability to limit student athlete compensation, the landscape continues to shift in unprecedented ways. In September 2021, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced its position that certain student athletes at private institutions should be considered employees for purposes of organizing and other National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) protections. Now, the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals (which covers employers in Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania) will decide whether student athletes can be classified as employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the federal law mandating minimum wage and overtime compensation.