As of yesterday, employers who have not yet fully implemented changes in preparation for the new salary basis increase should put those plans on hold because a Texas federal court issued a nationwide preliminary injunction against the rule while it evaluates the legality of the rule. The salary required for exempt status for executive, administrative, and professional employees (EAP or white collar employees) will remain at $23,660 or $455 per week. (Employees, of course, must meet the respective duties tests.) Any employers who had planned to raise exempt employees’ salaries to $47,476 or convert them to non-exempt status can place those plans on indefinite hold. We recognize, however, that it may be difficult and bad for employee relations to roll back already announced or implemented salary increases. Each employer should evaluate the financial and good will costs of rolling back salary increases made to comply with the new rule or keeping them in place.
Continue Reading Texas court enjoins new salary basis rule set to go into effect December 1st
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Supreme Court finds pharmaceutical sales reps exempt under the outside sales exemption
In a highly anticipated decision under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the United States Supreme Court handed down a big win on Tuesday for the pharmaceutical industry when the Court found pharmaceutical sales representatives are covered by the outside sales exemption in Christopher v. Smith Kline Beecham Corp. We covered in previous posts the…
Deductions From Pay Can Be Dangerous!
Are you making improper deductions from employees’ pay without even realizing it? Have you ever had a manager who is consistently late and you want to impose a fine equal to 15 minutes of pay for each occurrence? Or an hourly employee who loses or destroys company tools or equipment and you want them to pay you back for what they broke? What about an employee who resigns while he or she has a negative leave balance? In all these situations, making a deduction from pay makes logical sense. But these deductions may be contrary to wage and hour law.
First, many states have laws requiring employers to obtain employee authorization prior to making deductions from pay. The Ohio wage and hour statutes refer to “employee authorized deductions” generally and specifically require employers to have express authorization before making deductions for damage to tools or equipment. See Ohio Rev. Code §§ 4113.15; 4113.19. Pay careful attention to state law before you make any deductions from pay! You should also consider including a general deductions policy in your handbook, and realize that you may need to obtain specific waivers for certain deductions from pay.Continue Reading Deductions From Pay Can Be Dangerous!
Sixth Circuit Holds That Gas Station Manager Is An Executive Employee Under the FLSA
Adding clarity to an often-litigated area of wage and hour law, the Sixth Circuit recently held that a small store manager was exempt from wage and hour overtime requirements despite her performance of non-managerial tasks and close supervision by her district manager.
Continue Reading Sixth Circuit Holds That Gas Station Manager Is An Executive Employee Under the FLSA