Title VII’s anti-retaliation provision makes it “an unlawful employment practice for an employer to discriminate against any of [its] employees . . . because he has opposed any practice made an unlawful employment practice by this subchapter, or because he has made a charge, testified, assisted, or participated in any…
This article is part three of a three-part series concerning employer defense against class action certification of employment law claims. Peter Mavrick is a Fort Lauderdale employment attorney, who also represents businesses in Miami and Palm Beach. The Mavrick Law Firm defends the interests of businesses and business owners in employment law…
This article is part two of a three-part series discussing how employers may successfully challenge class certification of lawsuits seeking overtime and minimum wages. The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) sets forth a unique procedure of “collective actions,” instead of “class actions.” A collective action requires cumbersome procedures to…
This article is the second part of the discussion of employer’s defense against overtime wage claims based on the commission sales overtime wage exemption, set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 207(i). exemption that allows certain businesses to not pay the employees paid mostly with commissions an overtime premium. Peter Mavrick…
This article is part one of a two-part series on the commission-based employee overtime wage exemption under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The FLSA, at 18 U.S.C. § 207, generally requires employees to be paid one and a half times their normally hourly rate when working more than forty…
To determine whether a person is an employee or independent contractor for purposes of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), courts examine several factors to determine the “economic reality” of the relationship between the alleged employee and employer. Merely putting an independent contractor label on the alleged employee or entering…
This is Part Two of the two-part series of articles discussing the overtime wage exemption of truck loaders under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Following the United State Supreme Court’s decisions discussed in Part One, the United States Department of Labor (DOL) issued regulations interpreting the Motor Carrier Act…
This article is Part One in a two-part series of articles discussing the exemption of loaders from the wage-hour requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Businesses whose works load large trucks transporting goods in interstate commerce can defend themselves from overtime and minimum wage claims. Under the Motor…
The United States Department of Labor (DOL) is a federal agency created in 1913 under the administration of President William H. Taft, which enforces the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) created in 1938 under the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The DOL’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) which formed…
The use of the two-tier method to determine whether collective actions should proceed under Section 216(b) of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) is inappropriate because it: (1) conflates Rule 23 standards with non-applicable wage and overtime claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act; and (2) wastes judicial resources and…