Even employers with good intentions can misunderstand what it takes to legally classify employees as exempt. Unfortunately, when it comes to wage and hour violations, ignorance isn’t bliss, especially in Massachusetts. Unlike many other areas of the law, intent is irrelevant. Employers that make errors, regardless of the reason, open themselves up to costly litigation and the payment of back wages, their own and their employees’ attorneys’ fees, and costs. The most common misclassification error employers seem to make is classifying a nonexempt employee under the administrative exemption. A recent case reminds employers of those dangers.

For nonexempt, hourly employees who don’t have access to the time clock during the day (they’re delivery drivers), how should we handle their meal breaks? Can we automatically deduct 30 minutes from their hours?

According to a news release by the Department of Labor (DOL), child labor violations are on the rise, with the department seeing a 69% increase in violations since 2018. The DOL is cracking down on employers found to be violating child labor laws and has found violations across multiple industries, including in manufacturing, food production, and hospitality. The rise in violations has become so egregious that Congress is now turning its attention to the issue.

On August 30, 2023, the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the Department of Labor (DOL) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking regarding 29 CFR part 541, which governs compensation for exempt employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) white-collar exemptions. The stated goal, which the contemplated regulations are clearly tailored to accomplish, is to significantly decrease the number of employees who are exempt under the FLSA.

When you see the packages of strawberries in the produce department, you probably don’t consider whose employees grew, packaged, and shipped them. The court of appeal recently had to consider whether farmworkers work for an individual employer or a joint employer.

As we previously reported, New York has enacted statewide “pay transparency” legislation that will take effect on September 17, 2023. On March 3, 2023, Governor Kathy Hochul signed an amendment to the legislation that clarifies the application of the law, including with respect to remote workers, and removes certain recordkeeping requirements. The amendments also expand the exterritorial reach of the legislation by applying it to searches for workers who will not work at all in New York but have a reporting relationship to New York.

For the first time in almost 40 years, the Department of Labor (DOL) announced the issuance of regulations designed to update and modernize the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts (DBRA), which require the payment of locally prevailing wages and fringe benefits on federal contracts for construction. The aptly named final rule, Updating the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts Regulations (the Rule), will go into effect 60 days after its publication in the Federal Register.