California Court of Appeal Rules Alleged Contractor Misclassification Not Enough to Justify Class Action

On Friday, March 12, 2021, the California Court of Appeal issued a ruling in Wilson v. The La Jolla Group that addresses the appropriate scope of class treatment for employee misclassification under Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court. Dynamex—and its later enactment into statute in the form of AB 5—established the ABC test for determining independent contractor status. More ›

Hinshaw's 12 Days of California Labor & Employment Series – Day 8: Additional Exemptions for Worker Classification

In the spirit of the season—and keeping some semblance of normal—we are using our annual "12 days of the holidays" blog series to address new California laws and their impact on California employers. On this eighth day of the holidays, my labor and employment attorney gave to me: eight maids a-milking and AB 2257.

Deemed an emergency statute, AB 2257 went into effect immediately upon the Governor's signature on September 4, 2020. Focusing on worker classification, the bill provides additional exemptions to AB 5, which concerned the classification of independent contractors. More ›

U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Narrow Reading in Favor of "Fair" Reading of FLSA Exemptions

The US Supreme Court recently issued a five-four decision addressing whether service advisers of a car dealership fell within the automobile sales exemption. While the opinion may not seem particularly helpful for businesses that do not sell cars, a deeper reading reveals that it is a positive case for employers. More ›

Uncle Sam Wants You . . . To Tell Him a Little About Overtime

A Department of Labor (DOL) 2016 Final Rule pushed federal regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) that would have more than doubled the “threshold” below which nearly every salaried employee would be entitled to overtime. In November 2016, a federal district court prevented the new threshold from coming into effect, and the subsequent election of President Trump called into doubt whether revised rules would ever be implemented. More ›

Overtime Exemptions Shrink

The hour has arrived. Last summer, the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor announced substantial revisions to federal regulations delineating who is exempt from overtime pay. After almost a year of waiting (and over 290,000 comments to the draft rule), the DOL announced this week that it will be publishing the final form of its revised overtime regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). This final publication will occur on Monday, May 23, 2016, but the pre-publication version is publicly available now. More ›

California Court Finds Compensation Scheme does not meet Salary Basis test, Denies Exemption

The California Court of Appeals recently considered whether a compensation scheme which is based solely upon the number of hours worked, with no guaranteed minimum, may be considered a “salary” within the meaning of wage and hour laws.  More ›

Breaking News: U.S. Supreme Court Finds Pharmaceutical Sales Reps Exempt as Outside Salespersons Under FLSA

This morning the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Christopher et al. v. SmithKline Beecham, finding that SmithKline properly classified its pharmaceutical sales representatives as "outside salespersons" and thus exempt under the wage and hour requirements set forth in the Fair Labor Standards Act.  More ›

Updated: Supreme Court to hear Arguments on Outside Salesperson Exemption

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on whether GlaxoSmithKline PLC's offsite and travelling drug sales representatives are entitled to overtime pay. In the past, these representatives have been deemed "exempt" as outside salespeople and not eligible for overtime. Specifically, the Court is presently considering: More ›

Georgia Court Evaluates Executive Exemption Under FLSA

When is a store manager truly a manager, and not just a lead hourly employee, for purposes of the executive exemption of the Fair Labor Standards Act? Employers recently received some positive guidance from the South Carolina district court in Gooden v. Dolgencorp, Inc., 3:10-cv-1059, Dkt. 60, (U.S.D.C. So. Car. Ap. 3, 2012) and Thomas v. Dolgencorp, Inc., 3:10-cv-1061, Dkt. 59, (U.S.D.C. So. Car. Ap. 3, 2012). More ›