Wage & Hour

  • July 28, 2025

    Ship Repair Workers Snag Final OK For $6.3M Wage Deal

    A San Diego ship repair company will shell out an additional $4.5 million to settle a lawsuit accusing it of violating state and federal wage and hour laws in addition to $1.5 million already paid, a California federal judge said.

  • July 28, 2025

    DOL Seeks Small Biz Input On Pooled Retirement Plans

    The U.S. Department of Labor asked small businesses for feedback Monday on whether there should be more conflict-of-interest guardrails on pooled employer retirement plans, and what barriers prevent employers from trusting the newly structured benefit vehicles.

  • July 28, 2025

    DOL's Job Corps Closure Was Unlawful, DC Judge Rules

    A D.C. federal court granted a group of students' request for a preliminary injunction against the U.S. Department of Labor for its decision to close 99 Job Corps centers, saying the department's move was unlawful and "unprecedented."

  • July 28, 2025

    Rising Star: Shegerian & Associates' John David

    John David of Shegerian & Associates helped a former bank branch manager secure a $14 million jury verdict in her sex discrimination lawsuit and led a consultant to victory in his disability bias case, earning him a spot among the employment law practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

  • July 28, 2025

    Store Managers Say Shoe Co.'s OT Violations Were Common

    A shoe retailer had a common policy of requiring store managers to work outside their shifts, two former employees of the company said, urging a North Carolina federal court to greenlight a collective in their overtime suit.

  • July 25, 2025

    NY Forecast: Judge To Weigh Dismissal Of Nurses' OT Suit

    This week, a federal magistrate judge will consider a nursing home company's attempt to toss a proposed collective action brought by nurses who claim they were not paid overtime required by federal law, and a competing motion by the nurses to conditionally certify the collective action. Here, Law360 looks at this and other cases on the docket in New York.

  • July 25, 2025

    As NY COVID Leave Ends, Work And Leave Issues Persist

    New York state's COVID-19 leave expires this month, but while COVID-specific laws have been phased out, the pandemic has left a lasting legacy by making remote work de rigueur and changing how employers and policymakers think about paid leave, attorneys say.

  • July 25, 2025

    DOL To Stop Enforcing Obama-Era Home Care Workers Rule

    The U.S. Department of Labor will not enforce an Obama-era rule concerning whether certain domestic and care workers are entitled to Fair Labor Standards Act wage protections while the department is in the process of rescinding the rule, according to a field assistance bulletin issued Friday.

  • July 25, 2025

    Trump Directs NLRB And DOL To 'Clarify' Athletes' Status

    President Donald Trump has directed the U.S. Department of Labor and the National Labor Relations Board to "clarify" the status of college athletes as part of a broader push to halt changes to collegiate athletics following the courts' end to certain restrictions on compensating players.

  • July 25, 2025

    Fighters Push Sports Agency For Docs In UFC Wage Dispute

    Fighters engaged in an ongoing battle over wages with UFC are asking a Nevada federal court to force a sports talent agency to turn over documents they say will shed light on their antitrust claims and help build their case.

  • July 25, 2025

    Honda Must Face Suit Over OT Pay Affected By Kronos Hack

    A Honda manufacturer must continue to face claims that it failed to properly pay its employees overtime wages following a ransomware attack, an Ohio federal judge has ruled, finding disputes remain in a consolidated putative class action, including regarding the Fair Labor Standards Act.

  • July 25, 2025

    Los Angeles Seeks Early Win In Military Leave Bias Suit

    The city of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Police Department urged a California federal court Friday to grant them an early win in a proposed class action alleging the city didn't grant equal sick and vacation time to service members and wouldn't promote them because of their service obligations.

  • July 25, 2025

    Calif. Forecast: Meta Challenges Hiring Bias Class Claims

    In the coming week, attorneys should keep an eye out for arguments on Facebook owner Meta's challenge to the scope of proposed classes in a citizenship discrimination suit. Here's a look at that case and other labor and employment matters coming up in California.

  • July 24, 2025

    Phillips 66's $12.5M Class Wage Deal Gets 1st OK In Calif.

    A class of about 1,750 current and former Phillips 66 employees working at its San Francisco and Los Angeles refineries received preliminary approval by a California federal judge Thursday of a $12.5 million settlement resolving allegations they weren't given breaks or compensated for donning and doffing personal protective equipment off-the-clock.

  • July 24, 2025

    Encore Series, Philadelphia Orchestra End Antitrust Spat

    Encore Series, formerly the Philly Pops, and the Philadelphia Orchestra ended their two-year-old litigation centered on allegations of anticompetitive conduct and breach of contract over live symphony concerts in the Philadelphia metropolitan area, according to a notice Thursday in federal court. 

  • July 24, 2025

    Raytheon Must Face Ex-Worker's Trimmed Severance Fight

    A Massachusetts federal judge agreed to trim claims against Raytheon in a former employee's dispute over severance benefits, concluding claims of benefits retaliation failed to state a claim but that wrongful denial of benefits and fiduciary breach claims could proceed to discovery.

  • July 24, 2025

    How 4 Days Of Work Has Improved Thousands Of Lives

    Now is the time for employers to finally embrace the four-day workweek and many have adopted a successful model for doing so, says the author of a new book on the subject. Juliet Schor, who has studied 10,000 workers at hundreds of companies, spoke with Law360 about her findings.

  • July 24, 2025

    Talent Exec Says Firm Took OnlyFans Clients, Ousted Her

    A Massachusetts talent management agency is facing a lawsuit in state court alleging it convinced a smaller competitor to bring her clients, including multiple OnlyFans performers, to the firm, then sidelined her and later broke an agreement to continue paying her commissions after she quit in frustration over her treatment.

  • July 24, 2025

    DOL Relaunches Employer Self-Audit FLSA Program

    The U.S. Department of Labor relaunched an employer self-audit program Thursday that supports employers that seek to resolve potential wage violations and avoid litigation — an initiative from the first Trump administration that was popular among employers.

  • July 24, 2025

    EEOC Acting Chair Introduces New Leadership Team

    The acting chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said Thursday that she had made three appointments to leadership roles at the agency.

  • July 24, 2025

    Seyfarth Shaw Employment Atty Jumps To Akerman In LA

    Akerman LLP is boosting its employment team, bringing in a Seyfarth Shaw LLP class action litigator as a partner in its Los Angeles office.

  • July 23, 2025

    Budtenders Settle Tip Dispute With Cannabis Store Chain

    New Mexico budtenders are asking a federal judge to grant final approval on a $225,000 deal that would end a proposed class action accusing their employer of unlawfully taking tips meant for them and donating them to a charity.

  • July 23, 2025

    9th Circ. Partially Revives UPS Workers' Wage Claims

    Four former United Parcel Service seasonal employees supported their claims for unpaid wages and late payments after their termination, a Ninth Circuit panel said Wednesday, but ruled that their breach of contract claims are preempted by federal labor law.

  • July 23, 2025

    Race, Sex Bias Claims Against British Automaker Trimmed

    The former director of public relations and marketing for Ineos Automotive Americas LLC failed to support her claims that the automotive company discriminated against her because of her race and sex, but her wage and hour claims can continue, a North Carolina federal court has ruled.

  • July 23, 2025

    4th Circ. Backs Walmart In Pregnancy Bias, Retaliation Case

    The Fourth Circuit declined to revive a suit from a worker who said Walmart failed to accommodate her pregnancy and fired her for complaining about it, ruling her claims were either filed too late or lacked evidence that bias — not poor attendance — triggered her termination.

Expert Analysis

  • Employers Should Not Neglect Paid Military Leave Compliance

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    An August decision from the Ninth Circuit and the settlement of a long-running class action, both examining paid leave requirements under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, are part of a nationwide trend that should prompt employers to review their military leave policies to avoid potential litigation and reputational damage, says Bradford Kelley at Littler.

  • Old Employment Law Principles Can Answer New AI Concerns

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    Despite growing legal and regulatory concerns about how artificial intelligence tools may affect employment decisions and worker rights, companies should take comfort in knowing that familiar principles of employment law and established compliance regimes can still largely address these new twists on old questions, say attorneys at Foley & Lardner.

  • How NJ Temp Equal Pay Survived A Constitutional Challenge

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    The Third Circuit recently gave the New Jersey Temporary Workers' Bill of Rights a new lease on life by systematically dismantling multiple theories of the act's unconstitutionality brought by staffing agencies hoping to delay their new equal pay and benefits obligations, say attorneys at Duane Morris.

  • NYC Wage Info Bill Highlights Rise In Pay Transparency Laws

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    With New York City the latest to mull requiring companies to annually report employee wage data, national employers should consider adapting their compliance practices to comply with increasingly common pay transparency and disclosure obligations at state and local levels, says Kelly Cardin at Littler Mendelson.

  • Calif. Ruling Clarifying Paystub Compliance Is Win For Cos.

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    In rare good news for California employers, the state Supreme Court recently clarified that workers couldn’t win extra penalties in wage and hour cases by claiming their employer intentionally violated state paystub law if the employer believed it had complied in good faith, say Drei Munar and Kirk Hornbeck at Hunton.

  • Water Cooler Talk: Immigration Insights From 'The Proposal'

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    Tracey Diamond and Evan Gibbs at Troutman Pepper chat with their colleague Robert Lee about how immigration challenges highlighted in the romantic comedy "The Proposal" — beyond a few farcical plot contrivances — relate to real-world visa processes and employer compliance.

  • How Calif. Justices' Prop 22 Ruling Affects The Gig Industry

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    The California Supreme Court's recent upholding of Proposition 22 clarifies that Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and other companies in the gig industry can legally classify their drivers as independent contractors, but it falls short of concluding some important regulatory battles in the state, says Mark Spring at CDF Labor.

  • Eye On Compliance: NY's New Freelance Protection Law

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    New York's Freelance Isn't Free Act is set to take effect later this month, meaning employers must be proactive in ensuring compliance and take steps to mitigate risks, such as updating documentation and specifying correct worker classification, says Jonathan Meer at Wilson Elser.

  • Illinois BIPA Reform Offers Welcome Relief To Businesses

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    Illinois' recent amendment to its Biometric Information Privacy Act limits the number of violations and damages a plaintiff can claim — a crucial step in shielding businesses from unintended legal consequences, including litigation risk and compliance costs, say attorneys at Taft.

  • 2 Lessons From Calif. Overtime Wages Ruling

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    A California federal court's recent decision finding that Home Depot did not purposely dodge overtime laws sheds light on what constitutes a good faith dispute, and the extent to which employers have discretion to define employees' workdays, says Michael Luchsinger at Segal McCambridge.

  • How To Comply With Chicago's New Paid Leave Ordinance

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    Chicago's new Paid Leave and Paid Sick and Safe Leave Ordinance went into effect earlier this month, so employers subject to the new rules should update leave policies, train supervisors and deliver notice as they seek compliance, say Alison Crane and Sarah Gasperini at Jackson Lewis.

  • How NJ Worker Status Ruling Benefits Real Estate Industry

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    In Kennedy v. Weichert, the New Jersey Supreme Court recently said a real estate agent’s employment contract would supersede the usual ABC test analysis to determine his classification as an independent contractor, preserving operational flexibility for the industry — and potentially others, say Jason Finkelstein and Dalila Haden at Cole Schotz.

  • PAGA Reforms Encourage Proactive Employer Compliance

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    Recently enacted reforms to California's Private Attorneys General Act should make litigation under the law less burdensome for employers, presenting a valuable opportunity to streamline compliance and reduce litigation risks by proactively addressing many of the issues that have historically attracted PAGA claims, say attorneys at Mintz.