Insights

December 11, 2024
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Category: FLSA

Should Expense Reimbursements Be Included When Calculating Overtime? A New Opinion Letter Explains

In the Biden Administration’s first opinion letter interpreting the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Wage and Hour Division has discussed the effect of expense reimbursements on an employee’s regular pay rate for the employee’s overtime premium. An oil and gas industry employer that reimburses its pipeline inspectors $25 per day for the use of their personal mobile phones, cameras, and computers...
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December 09, 2024
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Category: Discrimination and Harassment

OFCCP Publishes Guide on Combatting Harassment in the Construction Industry

The Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs has published A Guide to Combatting Harassment in the Construction Industry. The guide, released in November, uses a question-and-answer format. Though the guide focuses on federal construction contractors, other employers can use it to better understand and prevent harassment in the workplace. The guide explains that construction contractors have an affirmative obligation...
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December 09, 2024
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Category: DOL

DOL Appears To Abandon Its Attempt To Overhaul the Registered Apprenticeship Program

The Biden Administration appears to be giving up on its attempt to overhaul the regulations governing registered apprenticeship programs. The Labor Department published its proposed rule on January 17, 2024, and in June sent a draft of the final regulations to the White House Office of Management and Budget for approval. On November 27, 2024, OMB posted on its website that the...
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December 05, 2024
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Category: Disability, Accommodations, and Leaves

DOL Proposes Phasing Out Subminimum Wages for People With Disabilities

DOL’s Wage and Hour Division published a proposed rule December 4 that would phase out the Section 14(c) certificate program that allows employers to pay less than the minimum wage to individuals with disabilities. If the proposed rule were adopted in its current form, applications sent on or after the rule’s effective date would be ignored, and existing certificates would...
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December 04, 2024
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Category: Disability, Accommodations, and Leaves

DOL Says an Employee Has the Right To Use FMLA Leave for a Clinical Trial

An employee may use FMLA leave to participate in a clinical trial or research study to treat a serious health condition, according to a new opinion letter from the Labor Department. An eligible employee has the right to use FMLA leave because of a serious health condition. The Family and Medical Leave Act defines a serious health condition as an...
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December 02, 2024
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Category: Executive Order

Ninth Circuit Rules Federal Contractor Minimum Wage Increase Exceeded Biden’s Authority

President Biden exceeded his authority by issuing Executive Order 14026 raising the federal contractor minimum wage to $15 per hour, a federal appeals court ruled November 5 in Nebraska v. Su. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit also held that the U.S. Department of Labor acted arbitrarily and capriciously when it published implementing regulations. The Ninth Circuit...
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November 25, 2024
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Category: Agency Enforcement

President-Elect Trump Taps Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer To Be Secretary of Labor

President-elect Donald Trump (R-Oregon) has named Oregon Representative Lori Chavez-DeRemer as his choice to be the next Secretary of Labor. The first-term Congresswoman is an unconventional choice in view of her support for the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act (H.R. 20), legislation that would rewrite labor law in favor of organized labor. Sean O’Brien, the general president of...
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November 21, 2024
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Category: Agency Enforcement

OFCCP Posts New “CSAL” Flagging 2000 Entities for Compliance Audits

OFCCP’s latest Corporate Scheduling Announcement List (CSAL) puts some 2,000 federal contractor entities on notice that they’ve been flagged for an upcoming compliance audit. According to the newly posted FY 2025 CSAL Supply & Service Scheduling List, Release – 1 and updated FAQs, OFCCP has identified 1,880 establishments for standard compliance reviews, 60 establishments for Corporate Management Compliance Evaluation (CMCE) reviews, 48 entities...
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November 21, 2024
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Category: ADA

CWC’s Supreme Court Brief Argues Only Qualified Individuals Can Bring ADA Discrimination Claims

The U.S. Supreme Court should rule that a retired firefighter cannot bring an employment discrimination claim under the Americans with Disabilities Act, according to a friend-of-the-court brief filed by the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC), our affiliated nonprofit membership association. The case, Stanley v. City of Sanford, Florida, involves a challenge by a retired employee who elected disability retirement 15 years after...
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November 21, 2024
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Category: DOL

DOL’s Increase to Minimum Salary Threshold for White-Collar Overtime Exemption Blocked Nationwide

A federal court has vacated a Labor Department rule that increased the minimum salary level for the “white-collar” overtime exemption. Therefore, the prior minimum salary threshold of $684 weekly is back in effect. The opinion came November 15 by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in Texas v. U.S. Dep’t of Labor. The Biden Administration’s final...
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