For the so-called "gig economy" to be profitable, it relies on one fundamental idea. The workers who perform the gigs are not employees of the company but independent contractors. In theory, being an independent contractor can allow someone to pick up small tasks to...
Fair Labor Standards Act
Fair Labor Standards Act
Are Your Employees Checking Their Email At Home? Be Careful.
Whether surfing the web on their smartphones or checking their email on their laptops, people today are more connected than ever. But, while these devices have certainly made life much easier in many respects, they have also helped blur the lines when it comes to...
DOL Policy Makes It Simpler For Employers To Claim Tip Credit
Some employees customarily receive tips, but those tips aren't always in addition to the worker's wage. Many tipped workers are minimum-wage earners, and the law allows some of those tips to be counted toward ensuring they earn that minimum wage. For example, the...
Employees Not Paid For Work May Be Entitled To Three Times More
Whether you are an employee or employer, no one likes the idea of layoffs. But regardless of which side you may fall on, it is important to remember that Maryland law specifically outlines how -- and when -- a terminated employee must be paid. In fact, Maryland law...
Ocean City Restaurants Sued for Unpaid Wages
The popular restaurant, Harpoon Hanna's, located just across the Delaware line next to Ocean City, Maryland, has been sued for failure to pay proper wages to a tipped employee. Within the last year, a number of popular Ocean City restaurants have been sued by...
Overtime for Out-of-Office Emails?
Chicago police officers sued in Federal Court requesting unpaid overtime for off-duty work done on their BlackBerry phones. In a recent Opinion, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that while the BlackBerry work would have been compensable...
Are Emotional Distress Damages Available in Retaliation Cases?
Another federal appeals court has held that employees who have faced illegal retaliation at work are eligible to recover damages for emotional distress under the Fair Labor Standard Act (FLSA). The FLSA governs wage and hour laws, such as overtime and minimum wage,...
Wage and Hour Compliance– Multiple Employers?
Usually it is obvious who is an "employer" under wage and hour laws, and the employees know who cuts their checks. What about the situation when a worker is employed by a small affiliate to a larger organization? Who is the "employer" for purposes of wage and hour...
How misclassification hurts working people
Some working people prefer the flexibility that comes with being an independent contractor. Many more people, however, prefer the stability that comes with being an employee. Sometimes employers wrongly classify employees as independent contractors. This practice is...
The new overtime laws: What do employers and employees need to look for?
Currently, any salaried employee who performs executive, administrative or professional duties who earns $455 or more a week, or $23,660 in a year, is not entitled to overtime pay for working more than 40 hours a week. Things are about to change significantly. On...