Q: I have employees in Connecticut.  What do I need to know about the new pay equity law?

A:  Effective January 1, 2019, employers are not allowed to: (1) inquire (whether directly or through a third party) about a prospective employee’s wage history; or (2) prohibit employees from disclosing or discussing the amount of their wages or the wages of another employee that has been voluntarily disclosed by the other employee.
Continue Reading Connecticut Law Prohibiting Wage History Inquiries and Restrictions on Employee Wage Discussions Now in Effect

Q.  I suspect that our company may have inadvertently committed overtime and minimum wage violations. Is there a way I can make this right without incurring substantial legal liability?

A.  Possibly. Earlier this year, the United States Department of Labor (DOL) Wage and Hour Division announced the creation of a new nationwide pilot program called the Payroll Audit Independent Determination (PAID) program. In short, the PAID program encourages employers to conduct payroll self-audits and, if they discover overtime or minimum wage violations, self-report those violations to the DOL and work with the DOL to rectify the problem and ensure employees are paid any wages owed.
Continue Reading PAID Program Provides a Way to Resolve Overtime and Minimum Wage Violations

Q.  Am I permitted to ask about an applicant’s salary history in Philadelphia?

A.  In a ruling that could provide a roadmap for challenging salary history bans in other jurisdictions, a Philadelphia federal judge issued an opinion on April 30 invalidating a major element of the Philadelphia salary history ordinance enacted by the city in

Q.  Are there any Equal Pay Acts that apply specifically to employers in Massachusetts and New Jersey?

A.  On July 1, 2018, an updated equal pay law becomes effective in Massachusetts, referred to as “MEPA” (Massachusetts Equal Pay Act). MEPA covers nearly all Massachusetts employers, irrespective of size, and most employees, including full-time, part-time, seasonal, per-diem, and temporary employees. Employees who telecommute to a primary place of work in Massachusetts also are covered.
Continue Reading Got Employees in Massachusetts and New Jersey? What You Need to Know as MA and NJ Employers are Mandated to Break the Glass Ceiling

Q.  Can my Company use an applicant’s salary history to set their current pay rate?

A.  Not for employees in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (covering California, Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington).  In a case decided the day before Equal Pay Day, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that,

Q.  Have there been any new legal developments on whether gig economy workers can be classified as independent contractors?

A.  On April 11, Judge Michael Baylson of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania became the first judge to grant summary judgment on the issue of whether UberBLACK drivers are employees or

Q.  I heard that the U.S. Supreme Court just issued a ruling finding that auto service workers are exempt from overtime pay. My company is not in the automobile industry. Will this opinion apply to us?

A.  The U.S. Supreme Court issued an opinion this week in Encino Motorcars, LLC v. Navarro, finding that auto service workers – those employees who interact with customers and sell them services for their vehicles – are exempt from overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). While the decision directly impacts this small category of jobs, the opinion will have a much more far-reaching impact, since the Court rejected long-standing precedent that exemptions must be construed narrowly against the employer.
Continue Reading United States Supreme Court Revises Standard for Review of Exempt Classification

Q. I have employees in Massachusetts.  Do I need to pay for accrued sick leave upon termination?

A.  In a recent opinion, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court followed the lead of most other jurisdictions in finding that sick pay does not constitute wages under the Massachusetts Payment of Wages Law.  Unlike accrued and unused vacation, which is considered to be wages and must be paid at termination, Massachusetts employers are not required by statute to pay out accrued but unused sick pay to employees upon termination of employment.
Continue Reading A Win for MA Employers, Sick Pay Does Not Constitute Wages

Q.  Have there been any recent changes to the overtime pay rules that we have to be concerned about?

A.  Currently, under both federal and Pennsylvania law, to be exempt from overtime under the “white collar exemptions,” an employee must meet both the salary basis test and the duties test, meaning they must make more than a certain amount weekly and perform certain identified duties. The salary threshold has been stagnant for decades. In 2016, however, the Department of Labor (DOL) announced new regulations that would increase the salary threshold from $23,660 annually ($455 per week) to $47,476 (or $913 per week).  The regulations however, fell short of becoming law when a federal court in Texas enjoined the DOL from implementing it, only weeks before it was set to go into effect.  Today, the federal law remains in limbo, with speculation that new regulations will be issued raising the salary test to less than the previously anticipated increase, although the exact amount remains unclear.
Continue Reading Potential Changes on the Horizon for Pennsylvania Wage and Hour Law

Q.  Our company wants to establish an internship program and host student interns to work alongside our employees. Do we need to pay the interns?

A.  Possibly. Over the past few years, courts and the Department of Labor (“DOL”) have carefully examined the relationship between businesses and unpaid student interns to determine whether students working at a company are more properly classified as unpaid interns or employees protected by the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”).  Under the FLSA, if an individual is deemed a non-exempt employee, that employee must be paid at least a minimum of $7.25 per hour and one and a half times their regular rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of 40 in a workweek.  The minimum wage is higher in many states, including New York and New Jersey.
Continue Reading U.S. Department of Labor Endorses More Flexible Unpaid Intern Test