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On January 15, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Fourth Circuit’s decision in E.M.D. Sale, Inc. v. Carrera, and ruled that the “preponderance of evidence” standard, and not the higher “clear and convincing evidence” standard favored by the Fourth Circuit, is the correct burden of proof in cases involving whether an employee is exempt from the minimum wage and overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). This decision has a notable impact for employers defending misclassification claims brought under the FLSA and resolves a split in the circuits on this issue.Continue Reading U.S. Supreme Court resolves circuit split on burden of proof dispute for FLSA exemptions

On January 8, 2025, California received a Major Disaster Declaration for the ongoing Southern California wildfires. As the devastating wildfires continue to rage across the Los Angeles area, employers may be wondering how they can support their Southern California workforces while remaining compliant with employment laws. Employers must consider a host of factors, including compliance with tax regulations and wage and hour laws, worker safety, leaves of absence, and worksite closures.

Below are some key tips for businesses with a Southern California presence to consider as they navigate the challenging weeks and months ahead.Continue Reading How U.S. employers can support their workforces during the Southern California wildfires

California voters have rejected a ballot measure that would have increased the state’s minimum wage to $18 on January 1, 2025. Defeated by a narrow margin of 50.82 percent to 49.18 percent, Proposition 32 would have made California the first state in the Union to have an $18 minimum wage. The California Chamber of Commerce and California Restaurant Association praised the outcome as a win for businesses and consumers who have seen costs rise in recent years.Continue Reading California voters vote no on $18 minimum wage

New Jersey employers will soon have to adjust their recruitment practices with the recent passage and enactment of Senate Bill 2310 (SB2310). On Monday, November 19, 2024, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed the new legislation that will require employers to disclose compensation and benefits information on job postings.

Starting June 1, 2025, the law will require employers with 10 or more employees in the Garden State to do two things:

  1. First, Employers must disclose “the hourly wage or salary, or range of hourly wage or salary” as well as a “general description of benefits and other compensation programs for which the employee would be eligible” in every job posting. The statute expressly allows employers to increase the wages, benefits, and compensation from what was listed in the posting at the time of an offer.  The law is silent on whether the wages and benefits can be adjusted downward, suggesting that only increases from the posted amounts are permissible.
  2. Second, Employers must “make reasonable efforts” to formally post opportunities for promotion prior to making a decision. Notably, however, any promotions based on “years of experience or performance” are exempted, as well as promotions made on an emergent basis due to an unforeseen event.

Continue Reading New Jersey joins the wage transparency trend

On November 15, 2024, a United States Eastern District Court in Texas struck down a 2024 Department of Labor (DOL) rule that would have made four million previously exempt workers eligible for overtime by 2025. In an action brought by the State of Texas and a coalition of business associations, the court held that the DOL exceeded its statutory authority under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) by effectively reclassifying these employees as non-exempt based on their salaries without considering their job duties.  

The FLSA requires payment of overtime to employees working more than forty hours in a week but exempts certain executive, administrative, and professional employees. Under the FLSA, the DOL must periodically define and delimit which workers fall under these exemptions. In 1940 the DOL introduced a three-part test, which is still in place today, to determine whether an employee is overtime exempt: (1) the employee must be paid a predetermined, fixed salary; (2) the salary must be at a weekly rate above a minimum threshold set by the DOL; and (3) the employee must have executive, administrative, or professional job duties. The 2024 rule scheduled three increases to the minimum salary threshold, which previously was $684 per week: $844 on July 1, 2024; $1,128 on January 1, 2025; and automatic increases every three years starting in July 2027.Continue Reading Texas District Court vacates DOL rule expanding overtime eligibility

Massachusetts lawmakers had a busy 2024 and have ushered in several new measures to take effect in the coming months. As Massachusetts employers close out 2024 and look toward the new year, they should keep the following key dates in mind:

  • November 21, 2024: Massachusetts earned sick time expands to cover physical or mental health
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In a challenge to the Department of Labor’s (DOL) 2019 overtime rule, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the DOL’s authority to use a salary threshold requirement to define the executive, administrative, and professional (EAP) exemptions under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). See Mayfield, et al. v. U.S. Department of Labor, et al., No. 23-50724 (5th Cir. Sept. 11, 2024). This decision is a victory for the DOL as it currently defends challenges to its 2024 overtime rule that raised the minimum salary thresholds for the EAP exemptions.Continue Reading Fifth Circuit upholds DOL’s 2019 salary threshold amid ongoing 2024 threshold challenges

On August 28, 2024, New York State’s new law governing workplace-related contracts with freelancer workers – known as the Freelance Isn’t Free Act (FIFA) – will take effect. FIFA is designed to protect freelancers, i.e., independent contractors, from non-payment, late payment, and retaliation by hiring parties. It also imposes new requirements on hiring parties to provide written contracts, timely payment, and recordkeeping for freelance workers.

Background

In 2016, New York City enacted its own Freelance Isn’t Free Act, which was one of the first laws in the country to provide protections and remedies for freelance workers (and which we detailed here). The state law largely mirrors the city law, but with some key differences. For example, the state law excludes certain categories of workers from its coverages, including sales representatives, attorneys, licensed medical professionals, and construction contractors.Continue Reading How to prepare for New York State’s Freelance Isn’t Free Act

Beginning October 1, 2024, Maryland will require employers to disclose wage ranges and “other compensation” in job postings and upon the request of an applicant in an effort to promote greater wage transparency in the hiring process. The Maryland Wage Range Transparency Act amends the state’s existing law prohibiting employers from making salary history inquiries to now include these job posting wage transparency requirements. Maryland joins a growing number of states that have passed job posting pay disclosure requirements, including California, Colorado, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, Rhode Island, and Washington.

Maryland’s new pay disclosure requirements apply both to external and internal job postings and cover any solicitation intended to recruit applicants for a specific available position. It also applies to any job posting for a job where work will be “physically performed at least in part” in Maryland but does not explain what “in part” means, leaving employers to guess if a single day or several months meets the test, or whether a remote worker who comes to periodic meetings in Maryland is covered. Continue Reading Maryland joins the growing list of states requiring pay disclosure in job postings

“Under an amendment to the state labor law that took effect June 19, 2024, New York employers must now provide up to 30 minutes of paid lactation break time “each time such employee has reasonable need to express breast milk.” The amended law – which previously only required business to provide reasonable unpaid break time for such purpose – does not cap the amount of paid lactation breaks to which an employee is entitled and guidance issued by the New York State Department of Labor suggests that employees may be entitled to multiple paid lactation breaks in a given day, so long as the employee “reasonably need[s]” the break. Employers must also allow employees to use existing paid break or meal time for breast milk expression in excess of 30 minutes.Continue Reading Changes to New York employment law: Paid lactation breaks now in effect