Field-based roles raise unique FLSA compliance questions, including whether an employer must pay for work tasks performed before or during the commute to the first job site. A recent DOL opinion letter addressed the issue. The question came from a…
Employment Law
A federal jury in Oregon found that Nike discriminated against former employee Heather Hender by paying her less than male colleagues and delaying her promotions, in violation of federal and state laws. In 2018, Hender and three other female employees…
Hybrid schedules are now a standard part of many workplaces, but payroll teams are still sorting out when a commute during the workday belongs on the timesheet. The Department of Labor (DOL) recently addressed a recurring question: When a nonexempt…
Not every sign-on bonus belongs in the overtime calculation – and a recent federal case out of Virginia shows why. A fired employee filed a lawsuit against his former employer, claiming he was illegally terminated after complaining about a co-worker’s…
A D.C. hospitality business will pay more than $243,000 after an investigation found worker misclassification and other wage and hour violations affecting more than 270 workers. The case shows that compliance risk doesn't stop at the federal level – local…
Maryland added new restrictions to earned wage access (EWA) programs, becoming the latest state to reshape how these services operate. For employers with multistate workforces, it's another sign that EWA compliance is becoming increasingly state-specific. In April, Gov. Wes Moore…
When employers fail to honor wage and hour settlement agreements, the Department of Labor's next step is to seek a court order. In this recent incident, a Washington employer operating four restaurants allegedly backed out of a deal to settle…
Employers that fall short on Affordable Care Act (ACA) coverage will pay more in 2027. The IRS released the indexed employer shared responsibility penalty amounts, effective for plan years beginning after Dec. 31, 2026. IRS Announces ACA Penalties for Next…
A federal court has blocked the $100,000 H-1B visa fee, ruling it was an unlawful tax and removing a major cost driver from workforce planning assumptions, at least for now. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin in Boston…
Illinois' Family Neonatal Intensive Care Leave Act took effect on June 1, providing employees with children in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) with unpaid, job-protected leave. For Payroll, that means new administration, coding and tracking requirements for the new…
A new DOL opinion letter addresses off-the-clock work, rounding policies, and the de minimis defense – and the conclusions should prompt a hard look at pre-shift timekeeping practices. The question came from a public hospital with roughly 18,000 non-exempt workers.…
Does dual-role scheduling put your overtime compliance at risk? A new DOL opinion letter says it depends on the specific facts of the arrangement. The question came from an academic medical center, but the answer applies broadly to any employer…
