Bonuses During the holidays, many employers get in the spirit by giving non-exempt employees prizes, awards, nondiscretionary bonuses, and incentive payments. If these payments are based on the quality, quantity, or efficiency of production or hours worked, then the value of such payments must be calculated into the employee’s average hourly rate for the purpose of overtime pay. This means that any overtime worked in the pay period during which the bonus was received would need to be recalculated to adjust for the value of the prize, award, nondiscretionary bonus or incentive pay. If the prize is merchandise, the amount… Read more

In Chevalier v. General Nutrition Centers, Inc., the Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently decided that the fluctuating workweek pay method is unlawful under the Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act (PMWA). The fluctuating workweek method is used to calculate overtime pay owed to non-exempt, salaried workers with inconsistent schedules, and is allowed for under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. Under this method, non-exempt employees receive a fixed weekly salary, and overtime pay is calculated by dividing the employee’s salary by the actual numbers of hours worked in a given week to calculate the employee’s “regular rate,” then multiplying the regular rate by… Read more

In the past three weeks, almost one hundred lawsuits have been filed on behalf of blind and vision-impaired individuals claiming both restaurants and retailers are in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and its state and local equivalents, for a failure to include braille on their gift cards. The complaints assert that for those patrons who are blind or vision-impaired, gift cards without braille are indistinguishable from other cards with the same shape, and therefore denies such individuals of the ability to distinguish between cards, ascertain the value of the card, or review other information contained on the… Read more

On October 8, 2019, effective immediately, the Governor of Puerto Rico signed into law Act No. 150, known as the “Act to Protect Employee’s Credit Information” (“the Act”). The Act prohibits employers from looking into the credit history of current or potential employees, including obtaining credit reports from credit agencies, and from making employment decisions based on such credit history. The Act does not reach all employees or applicants. Notably, positions which are managerial, regulated by the Department of Justice or the judicial branch, or require access to trade secrets, financial, or personal information, are exempt. Additionally, any position in… Read more

In response to the #MeToo movement, Illinois has enacted the Workplace Transparency Act (“WTA”) to increase employee protections from both harassment and discrimination. The WTA, set to take effect on January 1, 2020, impacts employment-related agreements, amends the Illinois Human Rights Act (IHRA), and creates certain industry-specific requirements. The WTA impacts employment agreements by creating prohibitions on arbitration and confidentiality clauses in an employee’s contract in regard to any form of harassment claims. Specifically, it prohibits unilateral agreements between an employer and employee where the agreement bars the employee’s ability to disclose unlawful employment practices, or where it requires the… Read more

California employers take heed! Numerous new California employment laws are coming your way. The following six employment-related bills were signed into law and go into effect on January 1, 2020: AB 749: A common provision in settlement agreements is that a former employee is not permitted to seek employment with his/her previous employer. These provisions, also known as “no-rehire” clauses, give an employer the assurance that they will not have to deal with the plaintiff again as a prospective employee. If the plaintiff does apply for a position with the employer, the employer can reject the application outright, no questions… Read more

Effective January 1, 2020, the total annual compensation requirement for the highly compensated employee exemption shall be $107,432 per year, of which $684 must be paid weekly on a salary or fee basis. The rule does not alter the duties requirements for this exemption, namely that the employee’s primary duties must include performing office or non-manual work and he or she must customarily and regularly perform at least one of the exempt duties or responsibilities of an exempt executive, administrative or professional employee. Importantly, the new salary threshold levels do not apply to United States territories. The DOL set a… Read more