Blogs

Wage & Hour Developments

The regulatory landscape, appetite for administrative agency enforcement, and judicial interpretations related to wage-and-hour issues are rapidly evolving. Our blog is a one-stop resource for federal- and state-level updates and analysis on wage-and-hour-related developments affecting employers. Subscribe 🡢

Placeholder image

UPDATE: Department of Labor Issues Guidance and Required Workplace Poster Regarding the Families First Coronavirus Response Act

Although the Department of Labor (DOL) has yet to issue the regulations regarding the FFCRA, this week, the DOL issued guidance for employers who are subject to the paid leave requirements of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA).

Placeholder image

Cal-OSHA Approves Revised COVID-19 Workplace Rules

On June 3, 2021, California's Occupational Safety & Healthy Standards Board approved significant revisions to the initial COVID-19-related Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS) originally implemented on November 19, 2020 (see Perkins Coie's previous blog post

Placeholder image

Additional Paid Leave for COVID-19 Vaccinations

On May 18, 2021, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors passed an urgency ordinance related to paid leave for COVID-19 vaccinations.

Placeholder image

New Overtime Requirements for Washington Agricultural Workers

In response to last year's groundbreaking decision by the Washington State Supreme Court in Martinez-Cuevas v. DeRuyter Bros. Dairy, Inc., the state legislature recently passed Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5172, amending the state's Minimum Wage Act as it relates to agricultural workers and adopting a phased approach for imposing overtime requirements on agricultural employers.

Placeholder image

US Department of Labor Announces Final Rule Regarding Independent Contractors

The Department of Labor (DOL) announced in May 2021 that it was withdrawing the rule called "Independent Contractor Status Under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Placeholder image

Chicago Ordinance Prohibits Retaliation Against Employees for Time Spent Receiving COVID-19 Vaccinations

Chicago recently enacted an ordinance granting employees rights in connection with getting a COVID-19 vaccine.

Placeholder image

California Requires COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave Through September 30, 2021

On March 19, 2021, Governor Newsom approved SB 95, which requires COVID-19 supplemental sick leave through September 30, 2021 and creates new COVID-19 vaccine–related paid sick leave obligations for covered employers.

Placeholder image

New York Implements Targeted Paid Vaccination Leave

On March 12, 2021, New York passed a new law requiring all New York employers to provide up to four (4) hours of paid leave for the purposes of receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.

Placeholder image

The Ninth Circuit Clarifies When California Law Applies to Employees With Remote Workplaces

In Bernstein v. Virgin America, Inc., ___ F.3d ___, 2021 WL 686281 (9th Cir. 2021), the U.S.

Placeholder image

While Rounding Time Entries Can Be Permissible for Working Hours, the California Supreme Court Has Now Held It Is Not Permissible for Break Time

California law generally requires that employers provide nonexempt employees an uninterrupted, nonworking 30-minute meal period to begin before the end of the fifth hour of work. In a case of first impression, Donahue v. AMN Services, LLC, ___ P.3d ___, 2021 WL 728871 (Cal.

Placeholder image

City of Seattle Passes Hazard Pay for Grocery Employees

On February 3, 2021, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan signed into law a new ordinance requiring grocery employers to provide their employees an additional $4.00/hour in hazard pay due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Read the full update on PerkinsCoie.com.

Placeholder image

California’s Supreme Court Confirms the Retroactivity of the ABC Test Established in the 2018 Dynamex Decision

On January 14, 2021, the California Supreme Court decided Vazquez v. Jan-Pro Franchising International, Inc. The decision holds that the ABC test used to determine independent contractor versus employee status for purposes of California's Wage Orders, announced in Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court (2018) 4 Cal.5th 903, applies retroactively.

Placeholder image

Panel Upends the Rules of FLSA Collective Actions in the Fifth Circuit

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has ordered courts to discontinue using a "two-step" certification process where the first step customarily results in the distribution of notice of opt-in rights to putative class members. The order affirmatively rejects the nearly "universal" approach of the 1987 New Jersey district court opinion, Lusardi v.

Placeholder image

New San Francisco COVID-19–Related Employment Protections Ordinance

The City and County of San Francisco recently enacted an emergency Ordinance, the text of which is available here, effective September 11, 2020, which prevents all employers from taking adverse employment actions (e.g., firing, threatening to fire, disciplining, or i

Placeholder image

The Department of Labor (DOL) May Issue Revised Rules Regarding the Families First Coronavirus Response Act

On August 3, 2020, a court in the Southern District of New York vacated portions of the Department of Labor's Regulations Regarding the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) (discussed here