Wages & Overtime

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8230562364_710b5ef675_mFootball fans around the globe may be rejoicing at the official start of the NFL season, but the cheering may be somewhat less than usual this year. That’s because a number of current and former NFL cheerleaders have filed lawsuits in Florida, New Jersey, New York, California and other states for violations of state and federal wage and hour laws, including the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The cheerleaders are claiming they were significantly underpaid—or in some cases not paid at all—for their services, which include performing during games, rehearsing prior to games, and attending community events. Teams that have been sued include the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New York Jets, Buffalo Bills, Oakland Raiders and Cincinnati Bengals.

In the Florida Complaint, plaintiff Manouchcar Pierre-Val filed a proposed federal class action seeking to represent a class of cheerleaders who worked for the Tampa Bay Bucs within the last three years, and who were allegedly not compensated at the required minimum wages due under the FLSA. The lawsuit claims that the cheerleaders were paid only $100 per game for an average of 8 home games per season, plus limited wages for appearances made at paid corporate events. However, according to the complaint, the cheerleaders actually worked many more hours each week and each year for which they were not properly compensated as required by federal and Florida law. Plaintiff Pierre-Val alleges she received about $2.00 per hour for all of her services.Continue Reading Football Season Off to a Litigious Start

Consider this scenario:newborn - flickr cc gabi_menashe

Eve is employed as a counter person at Cars-R-Us, an auto parts store with twenty employees. Eve recently returned to work after giving birth. She asked Cars-R-Us for periodic breaks to express her breast milk. She also asked the company provide her with a dedicated, private room to use her breast pump.

Which of the following statements is correct?

A.  Cars-R-Us can deny Eve’s request because it has less than 50 employees.

B.  Cars-R-Us can deny Eve’s request unless she has worked for the Company more than 1,250 hours during the consecutive twelve-month period preceding her request.

C.  Cars-R-Us should permit Eve reasonable lactation breaks, but it may require her to use the women’s bathroom to express milk.

D.  Cars-R-Us should permit Eve to take a reasonable lactation break in a private location, unless to do so would pose an undue hardship.


Continue Reading Employment Law IQ: Nursing Mothers in the Workplace

clock flickr katerhaTravel time is one of the most hotly contested issues under the FLSA. This week we will test your employment IQ on compensable travel time.

Scenario. Timmy Tee is employed as a non-exempt public relations coordinator for Go Gators Enterprises. Timmy’s regular work schedule is 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Go Gators Enterprises requires Timmy to attend a two-day marketing conference in Atlanta, Georgia. Timmy travels by bus on Wednesday, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Timmy returns home by bus on Saturday, traveling from 2:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Which of the following statements is correct?

A.  Go Gators Enterprises must pay for all of Timmy’s travel time, since it required him to attend the marketing conference.

B.  Go Gators Enterprises must pay for the Wednesday bus trip, since these hours cut across Timmy’s normal work hours.

C.  Go Gators Enterprises must pay for the Saturday travel between 2:00 and 5:00 p.m., the travel time which cuts across Timmy’s normal work hours.  This is required even though Timmy does not normally work on Saturdays.

D.  Both B and C are correct.Continue Reading When Is Travel Time Compensable?

When President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) into law, it was a landmark and welcome law that originally only applied to about 20% of the labor force (mostly factory workers). The law banned oppressive child labor, set minimum wage at 25 cents per hour, and set a maximum workweek at 44 hours.

Over the past 75 years, the FLSA has morphed into a complex and highly-litigated area of the law that regulates nearly all workplaces. It is now almost universally despised by employers. Decades of amendments have made the FLSA so expansive it requires multi-volume sets of legal treatises to fully comprehend, its nuances ensure almost no employer can fully comply, and plaintiffs’ attorneys crank out lawsuits by the dozens, knowing a single dollar owed entitles them to recover all of the attorney’s fees spent prosecuting the case.

Continue Reading A Labor Day Toast to Seven Subjects the FLSA Does Not (Yet) Regulate

Yesterday, April 16, 2013, the United States Supreme Court rendered a significant decision within the FLSA arena that will surely change the strategy of many employers facing potential collective action claims.

For the three hundred or so of our readers who attended our HR Law & Solutions Seminar last month at the Sanibel Harbour Resort, you may recall a case Bob Shearman briefed in the case law update portion of our seminar, Genesis HealthCare Corp. v. Symczyk. The case was in the “on the horizon” portion of our presentation, as it was on appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court and oral argument had occurred in December 2012, but no decision had yet been rendered. That decision is now in, and it’s a rare breath of fresh air to employers, who do not very often hear “good news” and “FLSA” in the same sentence.

Case BackgroundContinue Reading A Monumental Win for Employers in Latest FLSA Decision

So…we never thought we would see the day when we’d blog about Justin Bieber, but when we read he was being sued by his bodyguard for over $400,000 in unpaid wages and assault, we couldn’t resist.  That’s right, not only did the Biebs** allegedly fail to pay his bodyguard overtime, the 5’7″ teen idol also allegedly roughed up his bodyguard during a confrontation last fall.

The bodyguard alleges he was mistakenly told he wasn’t entitled to receive overtime despite working 14 to 18 hour days for about a year and a half.  That’s a lot of time protecting Bieber from the throngs of screaming fans and crazed paparazzi.  In addition to unpaid overtime, the bodyguard also claims he’s owed vacation and other wage benefits, for a grand total of $421,261.

Our first thought (after laughing about the thought of JB assaulting a bodyguard) was that none of the typical FLSA exemptions would apply to a bodyguard.  Then we thought more about coverage, etc., and decided it wasn’t quite that clear cut.  Does the bodyguard have a valid claim?  Let’s take a look at the Biebs’ legal woes.Continue Reading As Long As You PAY Me: Justin Bieber Sued for Unpaid Wages