Many Texas workers understand that their job classification has an effect their eligibility for overtime pay. When companies violate wage laws, sometimes the U.S. Department of Labor takes action, as was the case with the insurance software company Zenefits. According...
Wage And Hour Laws
Chipotle employee files lawsuit seeking overtime pay
A lawsuit seeking class action status on behalf of employees of the fast food restaurant chain Chipotle Mexican Grill claims that the company ignored a federal overtime rule that was to become effective on Dec. 1, 2016. A challenge in a Texas court has held up...
Courts disagree over basing pay on salary history
While many Texas residents will have been asked about their salary histories on job applications, few may know that the courts have been unable to agree on whether or not companies can rely on this information alone to set pay. The 10th and 11th Circuits have ruled...
Overtime pay exemptions in Houston
.S. Department ofA group of service adviser employees at a Mercedes-Benz dealership in California sued their employer in 2012 for missing overtime pay. The group stated that they were not exempt from overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act in the way that...
Obama-era overtime rule’s fate still up in the air
The legal status of a new federal overtime rule that was supposed to have taken effect on Dec. 1 of last year is still far from certain. Whether the rule, which would significantly increase the number of employees eligible for overtime pay, will ever take effect in...
Ruling may affect FLSA claims involving retaliation
A ruling recently issued by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals may make it more difficult for employers who are embroiled in lawsuits pertaining to Fair Labor Standards Act violations. Workers in Texas and the rest of the country who have been retaliated against by an...
Employee lunch breaks
According to the Fair Labor Standards Act, employers in Houston and nationwide must compensate employees for all the time they work or are permitted to work. However, businesses often question if an employee is required to be compensated during times they are not...
New overtime rule put on hold by judge
A judge from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas placed a hold on a new overtime rule that was set to take effect on Dec. 1. For now, the current exempt salary cutoff imposed by the Fair Labor Standards Act will remain in place. The fate of the...
Whistle blowing and retaliation in the workplace
No employee should ever feel intimidated or fear retaliation because he or she reported a wage-related complaint to an employer or the Department of Labor. In fact, federal law protects employees from such action by their employers. Nonetheless, in 2015, the owners of...
Implementation of new overtime rule delayed
Many workers in the Houston area are able to increase the size of their paychecks by working overtime hours. Federal wage and hour laws require employers to pay workers one and one-half times their regular hourly pay for all working hours that exceed 40 hours for one...