Posts tagged Articles.
Blogs
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By:  Barry Guryan and Jeff Ruzal

In a highly publicized March 23, 2010 decision, Awuah v. Coverall N. Am., Inc., 707 F.Supp.2d 80 (D. Mass. 2010), U.S. District Judge William Young for the District of Massachusetts rocked the Massachusetts business community by ruling that a group of janitorial franchisees were improperly classified as independent contractors, and that they were instead “employees” of commercial cleaning franchisor Coverall who are entitled to statutory protection under Massachusetts’ Wage laws including, among others, minimum wage, overtime pay, meal ...

Blogs
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By Michael Kun

Several years ago, employees in California began filing class action lawsuits against their employers alleging violations of the “suitable seating” provision buried in the state’s Wage Orders.  The unique provision requires some employers to provide “suitable seating” to some employees when the “nature of their work” would “reasonably permit it.” 

The use of multiple sets of quotation marks in the previous sentence should give readers a good idea just how little guidance employers have about the obscure law.  

The California Supreme Court is now ...

Blogs
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By Kara Maciel

Our national hospitality practice frequently advises restaurant owners and operators on whether it is legal for employers to pass credit card swipe fees onto employees or even to guests, and the short answer is, yes, in most states. But whether an employer wants to actually pass along this charge and risk alienating their staff or their customers is another question.

With respect to consumers, in the majority of states, passing credit card swipe fees along in a customer surcharge became lawful in 2013. Only ten states prohibit it: California, Colorado, Connecticut ...

Blogs
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By:  Kara Maciel, Adam Solander and Lindsay Smith

As the Employer Mandate compliance deadline looms for employers under the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) and employers are closely monitoring employee hours, it is critical that employers take appropriate and lawful steps to record all hours worked by an employee.  If employers try to play games and manipulate how time records are maintained, they could find themselves in hot water under both the ACA and the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). 

In what appears to be one of the first lawsuits challenging how hours are recorded under the ACA, an employee filed a putative collective action against Sun Holdings, LLC, a fast food franchisee.  The employee, a busboy at a Golden Corral restaurant, alleged that his managers required him to work under his real name and an alter ego to avoid paying him for all hours worked.  This set-up allegedly was designed to avoid having to pay overtime compensation under the FLSA and to count him as a full-time employee eligible to receive health benefits under the ACA.   

Accurate calculation and recording of the total number of hours worked by an employee is essential to compliance with the provisions of both the FLSA and the ACA.  Under the FLSA, an employer must pay an employee at least the minimum wage for all hours worked.  An employer must also provide overtime compensation at one and a half times the employee’s regular rate of pay for any hours worked in excess of 40 hours per week, unless that employee is classified as exempt.  Therefore, if an employer attributes some amount of time worked by one employee to an alter ego through which the employee cannot claim his time, the employee may be deprived of the overtime compensation he has earned.

Additionally, the ACA only provides benefits to employees who reach a certain amount of hours and binds employers with a certain amount of employees meeting that hour threshold.  The ACA applies to employers with 50 or more employees working 30 or more hours per week.  Only those employees working 30 hours or more per week are entitled to the health care coverage required by the ACA.  Therefore, an employee may lose the benefits to which he would otherwise be entitled if a portion of his hours worked is attributed to someone else, causing him to fall below the 30-hour minimum.  Furthermore, an employer may avoid the obligations of the ACA if it records 30 hours or more of work time for less than 50 of its employees. Although the Employer Mandate, which puts the employer-provided coverage into effect, does not kick in for large employers until January 1, 2015, applicability of the ACA depends upon the size of the affected workforce during the prior calendar year.      

A claim of this kind could be very costly for an employer because, as is the case here, such claims are often brought as collective actions.  In this case, the employee filed his claim on behalf of himself and all others similarly situated.  Although the amount of unpaid wages and liquidated damages he seeks only amounts to approximately $15,000.00, the franchisee owns roughly 400 restaurants in Texas and Florida.  Thus, a court award, or even a settlement, could be quite significant.

These allegations demonstrate the importance of correctly tracking employee hours and ensuring that an employee receives compensation and benefits in accordance with the total amount of hours worked.  Often times, this may mean training your managers as to the correct protocol for recording and compensating hours worked and monitoring to ensure managers are following that protocol. 

Importantly, this case forecasts what could be an emerging and growing area of litigation under the ACA, so employers must be ever vigilant about putting into practice protocols that ensure they are complying with the ACA and not manipulating hours to avoid the Employer Mandate’s requirements.  Considering that an analysis under the Employer Mandate’s look-back methodologies should be done this year, any changes to employees’ hours should be closely reviewed with legal counsel.  Although overtime compensation and benefits coverage can create increased financial burdens on employers, the cost of not complying can be even greater. 

Blogs
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By: Jordan Schwartz
As the calendar moves into spring, it is once again time for recreational golfers to start dusting off their clubs and begin to prepare for the golfing season. Unlike recreational golfers, however, owners and operators of golf courses have hopefully spent the off-season ensuring that their golf courses are compliant with the accessibility standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”).

Many resort owners and operators mistakenly believe that golf courses are exempt from the requirements of the ADA. While this may have been true in the past ...

Blogs
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 By Aaron Olsen

President Obama’s announcement last week that he was ordering the Labor Department to revise the regulations concerning who can be classified as “executive or professional” employees has created a buzz about what this will mean for both employers and employees.  The fact that the President specifically identified concerns about managers in the fast-food industry suggests that the Department of Labor will be looking for ways to change how employees in the hospitality industry are classified. 

However, there have been very few details about what any of this will ...

Blogs
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By: Barry Guryan

As widely reported, employers of all sizes are challenged in complying with the myriad of complex regulatory and compliance obligations under the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”). As our blog readers are well aware, certain large employers, as defined in the ACA, must provide “essential health benefits” that meet the law’s standards to full time employees under the Employer Mandate by 2015 or face penalties. Companies have spent time and money on consultants and lawyers to understand how the ACA impacts their business and their bottom line.

In response, some ...

Blogs
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By Brian W. Steinbach

Since 2008, the District of Columbia’s Accrued Sick and Safe Leave Act (“ASSLA”) has required D.C. employers to provide employees with paid leave (i) to care for themselves or their family members, and (ii) for work absences associated with domestic violence or abuse. Specifically, ASSLA provides covered workers with the ability to earn and take from up to three to up to seven days of covered paid leave each year, depending on the size of the employer.

On January 2, 2014, Mayor Vincent C. Gray signed the Earned Sick and Safe Leave Amendment Act of 2013 ...

Blogs
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By Kara Maciel and Adam Solander

On February 10, 2014, the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service issued highly anticipated final regulations implementing the employer shared responsibility provisions of the Affordable Care Act, also known as the “employer mandate.” The employer mandate requires that large employers offer health coverage to full-time employees or pay a penalty.

The rules make several changes in response to comments on the original proposed regulations issued in December 2012, as well as provide significant transition relief.  Most notably ...

Blogs
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February 1st is an important annual OSHA Injury and Illness Recordkeeping deadline. Specifically, by February 1st every year, certain employers are required by OSHA’s Recordkeeping regulations to:
 1.Review their OSHA 300 Log;
 2.Verify that the entries are complete and accurate;
 3.Correct any deficiencies on the 300 Log;
 4.Use the injury data from the 300 Log to develop an 300A Annual Summary Form; and
 5.Certify the accuracy of the 300 Log and the 300A Summary Form
For a more detailed explanation of the requirements and which companies are exempt, we encourage you to read the ...

Blogs
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By Jennifer Nutter and Amy Messigian

The beginning of a new year means new laws that will take effect in California.  Some of the laws that are of particular interest to employers in the hospitality industry are below:

-          Minimum Wage Increases: The minimum wage in California is increasing to $9/hour effective July 1, 2014.  Employers should confirm whether currently exempt employees will continue to meet any minimum compensation requirements once the minimum wage increases (e.g., twice the minimum wage will become $720 a week or $37,440 a year).  Additionally, San Jose and San Francisco ...

Blogs
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 By Nancy Gunzenhauser, Susan Gross Sholinsky and Jeff Landes

With the Supreme Court’s influential decision in June, declaring the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional, the tides are moving in favor of federal legislation on gay, lesbian, and transgender workplace rights. On November 7, 2013, the Senate passed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act ("ENDA"), prohibiting employment discrimination on the basis of both sexual orientation and gender identity.

ENDA has quite the history in Congress; it has been introduced in every legislative session since 1994, except for ...

Blogs
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By:  Kara M. Maciel

The following is a selection from the Firm's October Take 5 Views You Can Use which discusses recent developments in wage hour law affecting the hospitality industry.

IRS Will Begin Taxing a Restaurant’s Automatic Gratuities as Service Charges

Many restaurants include automatic gratuities on the checks of guests with large parties to ensure that servers get fair tips. This method allows the restaurant to calculate an amount into the total bill, but it takes away a customer’s discretion in choosing whether and/or how much to tip the server. As a result of this ...

Blogs
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Our colleague Kara M. Maciel of Epstein Becker Green wrote a wage and hour update in this month’s Take 5 labor and employment newsletter.

Here’s a preview of the five items:

1. IRS Will Begin Taxing a Restaurant's Automatic Gratuities as Service Charges
2. The New DOL Secretary, Tom Perez, Spells Out the WHD's Enforcement Agenda
3. DOL Investigates Health Care Provider and Obtains $4 Million Settlement for Overtime Payments
4. Federal Court Strikes Down DOL Tip Pooling Rule
5. Take Preventative Steps When Facing WHD Audits

Read the full article here.

 

Blogs
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Our colleague Kara M. Maciel of Epstein Becker Green wrote a wage and hour update in this month’s Take 5 labor and employment newsletter.

Here’s a preview of the five items:

1. IRS Will Begin Taxing a Restaurant's Automatic Gratuities as Service Charges
2. The New DOL Secretary, Tom Perez, Spells Out the WHD's Enforcement Agenda
3. DOL Investigates Health Care Provider and Obtains $4 Million Settlement for Overtime Payments
4. Federal Court Strikes Down DOL Tip Pooling Rule
5. Take Preventative Steps When Facing WHD Audits

Read the full article here.

 

Blogs
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By: Robert S. Groban, Jr. and Matthew S. Groban

On June 28, 2013, a District of Columbia restaurant sued its former executive chef to recover the expenses incurred to secure his H-1B visa.  See Rasika West End LLC v. Tyagi, No. 13-0004426 (D.C. Super. Ct. filedJune 28, 2013). According to the complaint, the employer entered into a thirty-six (36) month contract with the H-1B employee, and claimed that it would take that long to recover, among other things, funds spent to secure the approved H-1B petition the employee needed to assume the position. The complaint further alleges ...

Blogs
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By: Kara M. Maciel

Many restaurants include automatic gratuities on guests’ checks with large parties to ensure servers get fair tips. This method allows the restaurant to calculate an automatic gratuity or tip into the total bill, but it takes away the customer’s discretion in choosing whether and/or how much to tip the server. As a result of this removal of a customer’s voluntary act, the IRS has decided that it will separately tax automatic gratuities.

In 2012, the IRS issued a ruling to clarify earlier tax guidance on tips, particularly automatic gratuities, but ...

Blogs
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On September 18, 2013, our hospitality practice attorneys, Kara Maciel and Mark Trapp, have the pleasure of speaking at the Lodging Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona on key financial and legal issues under the Americans with Disabilities Act impacting hotel owners and managers when acquiring, selling, developing or managing properties. 

Under the 2010 ADA Standards, which became effective in March of 2012, hotels must take steps to remove access barriers for individuals with disabilities. The new federal standards encompass some key changes for hotel owners ...

Blogs
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By:  Kara Maciel, Adam Solander and Brandon Ge

On September 5, 2013, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) released two proposed rules to implement important reporting requirements under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“ACA”), which will help determine penalties under the Employer Mandate and should be of great importance to hospitality employers. 

One rule would require information reporting by insurers, self-insuring employers, and other parties that provide health coverage (“minimum essential coverage”). The other rule would require ...

Blogs
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By Anna A. Cohen

Demonstrating the importance for employers to review their FMLA practices, an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (DOL) revealed that T.G.I. Fridays’ FMLA policy and notification practices did not comply with the law. Specifically, the policy did not include information on the FMLA’s military family leave provisions, information on the right to take FMLA-covered leave on an intermittent or reduced schedule basis, and misstated the 12-month employment requirement for FMLA eligibility as being 12 continuous months. 

Blogs
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By:  Kara Maciel

Last week, I had the honor of attending the Resort Hotel Association’s (“RHA”) Annual Conference at The Edgewater Hotel in Seattle.  RHA is comprised of 130 independently-owned resorts, hotels, city clubs and spas in the United States and specializes in insurance programs that address the risks unique to the lodging industry.  For the second year in a row, RHA invited me and my colleague, Jordan Schwartz, to speak on the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and public accommodations issues that hotel and lodging operators face. The room was packed and ...

Blogs
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By:  Elizabeth Bradley, Kara M. MacielAdam Solander

In breaking news, the Obama Administration has now acknowledged the significant regulatory burdens that the January 1, 2014 deadline under the Affordable Care Act would place on employers.  Based on reports, the ACA Employer Mandate has been delayed to 2015!  We understand that regulatory guidance will be forthcoming this week.  

This is welcome news to the hospitality industry and employers across the country who have been struggling with compliance efforts under the ACA. 

Stay tuned to this blog and www.ebglaw.com

Blogs
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By:      Kara Maciel and Jordan Schwartz
As discussed in prior blogs, due to confusion surrounding FLSA tip pool requirements, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) Wage and Hour Division enacted a strict rule in 2011 related to proper tip pooling and service charge practices. This rule was met with swift legal challenges, and earlier this week the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon concluded that the DOL had exceeded its authority when implementing its final rule. See Oregon Rest. and Lodging Assn. v. Solis, No. 3:12-cv-01261 (D. Or. June 7, 2013).

Inconsistent ...

Blogs
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By:  David Poppick

Saylavee, LLC v. Hunt demonstrates the willingness of courts, in this case Connecticut, to enforce restrictive covenants that are reasonable in length of time and geographic scope.

The defendant Rhonda Hunt worked as an exercise instructor for an exercise studio called Bodyfit, with whom she signed an agreement restricting her for two-years from becoming involved as an employee “in any business which engages in the same or similar business of the company or otherwise competes with the business of the company within a ten mile radius of any exercise studio owned ...

Blogs
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By: Barry A. Guryan

In a case recently decided by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (National Labor Relations Board v. Harman and Tyner Inc., d.b.a. Mardi Gras Casino, Hollywood Concessions, Inc., 2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 7555), the Court affirmed a District Court’s decision to reject the National Labor Relations Board’s (“NLRB”) petition to obtain temporary injunctive relief seeking to reinstate six discharged employees pending the outcome of an administrative hearing brought as a result of a NLRB Complaint brought against Mardi Gras.  This is one of a ...

Blogs
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By Adam C. Abrahms and Steven M. Swirsky

In another major defeat for President Obama’s appointees to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board), the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit found that the Board lacked the authority to issue a 2011 rule which would have required all employers covered by the National Labor Relations Act (the “Act”), including those whose employees are not unionized, to post a workplace notice to employees. The putative Notice, called a “Notification of Employee Rights Under the National Labor Relations Act,” is intended to ostensibly ...

Blogs
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By:      Kara M. Maciel

The EEOC is holding a public meeting tomorrow, May 8, 2013, to discuss wellness programs and how the EEOC should interpret them under the ADA, GINA and other laws. This is welcome news to the employer community, who has been left without any guidance from the agency since 2000 as to how it will enforce wellness programs. The uncertainty generated by this lack of guidance has hampered businesses from implementing, or expanding, effective wellness programs.   

As we have explained in previous articles, the EEOC regulations, and the EEOC’s Interpretive and ...

Blogs
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We are pleased to announce the release of a new version of our Wage & Hour Guide app that puts federal and state wage-hour laws at employers’ fingertips. To download the app, click here

The new version features an updated main screen design; added support for iOS 6, iPhone 5, iPad Mini, and fourth generation iPad; improved search capabilities; enhanced attorney profiles; expanded email functionality for sharing guide content with others; and easier access to additional wage and hour information on EBG’s website, including the Wage and Hour Division Investigation Checklist  and ...

Blogs
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by: Adam C. Abrahms, James S. Frank, Kara M. Maciel, and Steven M. Swirsky

President Obama has taken action designed to bolster the National Labor Relations Board’s continuing move to bolster unions and take the National Labor Relations Act further into non-union workplaces. On April 9, 2013, President Obama announced his plan to submit three more nominees to serve the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”). If these and the two other pending nominations are confirmed this would bring the NLRB to its full complement of five Members. 

These new nominations – who must be ...

Blogs
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By:  Kara Maciel and Elizabeth Bradley

On March 8, 2013, amendments to the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) take effect which change the provisions governing military caregiver leave for veterans, qualifying exigency leave for paternal care, and job-protected leave for airline personnel and flight crews.

Relevant to hospitality employers, the amendments extend the right to take military caregiver leave to eligible employees whose family members are recent veterans with serious injuries or illnesses, and expand the definition of a serious injury or illness to ...

Blogs
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By: Allen B. Roberts

I wrote the February 2013 version of Take 5 Views You Can Use, a newsletter published by the Labor and Employment practice of Epstein Becker Green. In it, I discuss an alternative view of five topics that are likely to impact hospitality employers in 2013 and beyond. One topic involved the potential for labor organizing by pop-up unions in break-out units.  

Despite some perceptions of cohesiveness and political acumen, influence and wherewithal following the 2012 election cycle, labor unions represent only about 7.3 percent of the private sector ...

Blogs
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By Greta Ravitsky

I wrote the January 2013 edition of Take 5: Views You Can Use, a newsletter published by the Labor and Employment practice of Epstein Becker Green.

In it, I summarize five actions that hospitality employers should consider taking in 2013 as the DOL steps up its audit efforts under the leadership of the reenergized Obama administration,

  1. Assess the Workforce
  2. Choose Whether to “Pay” or to “Play”
  3. Evaluate Existing Wellness Programs and/or Implement New Wellness Programs to Enhance Employees’ Health Profiles and to Avoid or Minimize the “Cadillac Tax”
Blogs
Clock 7 minute read

By: Kara M. Maciel, Adam Solander, Brandon Ge and Philo Hall

As we blogged about previously, the Affordable Care Act provides unique compliance obligations for hospitality employers, many of whom employ large numbers of part-time and seasonal employees.  On December 28, 2012, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) on Shared Responsibility for Employers Regarding Health Coverage (the “Employer Mandate”) under the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”). The NPRM largely incorporates previously released guidance on ...

Blogs
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By Michael Kun

             As we have written before in this space,  the latest wave of class actions in California is one alleging that employers have not complied with obscure requirements requiring the provision of “suitable seating” to emploees – and that employees are entitled to significant penalties as a result.

               The “suitable seating” provisions are buried so deep in Wage Orders that most plaintiffs’ attorneys were not even aware of them until recently.  Importantly, they do not require all employers to provide seats to all employees.  Instead, they provide that employers ...

Blogs
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by Michael D. Thompson

A posting and distribution requirement added to New Jersey’s prohibition on discrimination in pay went into effect on November 19, 2012.  Employers will not, however, be obligated to comply with the requirement until the New Jersey Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development issues the required notification form.

The notification form will explain the prohibition against gender discrimination in pay, compensation, benefits or other terms and conditions of employment (as set forth in N.J.S.A. § 34:11-56.2). 

Once the form is prepared, every New ...

Blogs
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By Michael Kun

Employers with operations in California have become aware in recent years of an obscure provision in California Wage Orders that requires “suitable seating” for some employees. Not surprisingly, many became aware of this provision through the great many class action lawsuits filed by plaintiffs’ counsel who also just discovered the provision. The law on this issue is scant. However, at least two pending cases should clarify whether and when employers must provide seats – a case against Bank of America that is currently before the Ninth Circuit Court of ...

Blogs
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By Michael Kun and Aaron Olsen

Following up on the California Supreme Court’s recent decision in See’s Candy v. Superior Court, a California federal court has now dismissed a time-rounding class action against H.J. Heinz Company. And, once again, the court has relied upon the decision in our case Alonzo v. Maximus.

This, of course, is more good news for employers with operations in California. Between See’s Candy and Maximus, it will be exceedingly hard for plaintiffs to proceed with time-rounding class actions against employers who have even-handed time-rounding policies ...

Blogs
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By Kara Maciel and Jordan Schwartz

As you know if you are a reader of our blog, in 2010 the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) published updated regulations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), which adopted the 2010 Standards for Accessible Design (“2010 Standards”). As we explained here, the 2010 Standards contain specific accessibility requirements for a number of types of recreational facilities, including swimming pools, wading pools and spas. As we also reported in this blog here, while the effective date of the 2010 Standards generally is ...

Blogs
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By Elizabeth Bradley

With Election Day tomorrow, employers must be prepared to respond to employees’ request for time off to vote.  While there are no federal laws that require such leave, many states require that employees be provided with leave to vote.  Some states, such as California, Maryland and New York, require this leave to be paid.  Failing to comply with these requirements could result in financial penalties. 

As illustrated below, state requirements vary greatly with regard to whether the leave must be paid, when employees are eligible for the leave, the length of the ...

Blogs
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By: Kara Maciel

Hurricane Sandy is approaching this weekend, so hospitality employers along the East Coast should refresh themselves on the wage and hour issues arising from the possibility of missed work days in the wake of the storm.

A few brief points that all employers should be mindful of under the FLSA:

  • A non-exempt employee generally does not have to be paid for weather-related absences. An employer may allow (or require) non-exempt employees to use vacation or personal leave days for such absences. But, if the employer has a collective bargaining agreement or handbook ...
Blogs
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By Paul Burmeister

The National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) has ruled that negotiations between the Hotel Bel-Air and UNITE HERE Local 11 were not at impasse when the employer implemented its last, best final offer, which included severance payments to union employees. Hotel Bel-Air, 358 NLRB 152 (September 27, 2012). The NLRB upheld the ALJ’s order for the employer to bargain with the Union and to rescind all the signed severance agreements containing a waiver of future employment with the Hotel Bel-Air.

The Hotel Bel-Air is a luxury hotel located in Los Angeles. The Hotel ...

Blogs
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By Michael Kun and Aaron Olsen

To the surprise of few, the California Supreme Court has decided to review the Court of Appeal’s decision enforcing a class action waiver in Iskanian v. CLS Transportation Los Angeles, LLC. 

We wrote in detail about that decision on this blog earlier this year.  

In reaching its conclusion, the Court of Appeals relied on the April 2011 United States Supreme Court’s landmark decision in AT&T Mobility, LLC v. Concepcion.  Whether the California Supreme Court will follow Concepcion or attempt to distinguish it is impossible to predict.   Unfortunately ...

Blogs
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By Gretchen Harders

On August 31, 2012, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), along with the Department of the Treasury, Department of Labor (DOL) and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), issued guidance under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (the “Affordable Care Act”) on the application of the employer responsibility standards to large employers (the employer “play or pay” mandate), IRS Notice 2012-58 , and the 90-day limit on waiting periods for group health coverage, IRS ...

Blogs
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By Michael Kun

EBG’s free wage-hour app, which allows users to access federal law and the laws of many states, has been updated to include Massachusetts law. 

The app can be dowloaded here: http://itunes.apple.com/app/wage-hour-guide/id500292238?mt=8

Blogs
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Jeff Landes, Bill Milani, Susan Gross Sholinsky, Dean Silverberg, Anna Cohen, and Jennifer Goldman have prepared an Act Now Advisory on the amendment to Section 193 of New York’s Labor Law, which is scheduled to take effect on Nov. 6, 2012. The amendment expands the list of employee wage deductions that New York employers may lawfully make, so long as the employee authorizes such deductions.

 

Blogs
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By:  Steven M. Swirsky, Adam C. Abrahms, Donald S. Krueger, and D. Martin Stanberry

In another foray by the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or the “Board”) into new territory affecting non-union workplaces, a divided three-member Board panel found that an employer’s direction that employees not discuss matters under investigation with their co-workers violated Section 8(a)(1) of the National Labor Relations Act (the “Act”) because it “had a reasonable tendency to coerce employees in the exercise of their rights” under the Act. Banner Health ...

Blogs
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By:  Bill Milani, Susan Gross Sholinsky, Dean Silverberg,  Steve Swirsky, and Jennifer Goldman

EBG has prepared an Act Now Advisory on the NLRB’s recent stance on employment-at-will disclaimers, which are generally incorporated in employee handbooks. Two recent claims filed before the National Labor Relations Board in Arizona alleged that language used in employers handbooks regarding at-will employment (and how that arrangement could not be changed) were overly broad and could therefore chill employees’ rights under the National Labor Relations Act.

Blogs
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Now that the Supreme Court of the United States has upheld essentially all of the provisions of the Obama administration's Affordable Care Act ("ACA"), hospitality employers are faced with looming deadlines to bring their group health plans into compliance with the ACA's numerous new requirements. We have prepared for employers a timeline of the highlights of the upcoming deadlines for compliance with the ACA that apply to non-grandfathered group health plans.

Click here to access a copy of the timeline.

 

Blogs
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By Michael Kun

Earlier this year, we were pleased to introduce our free wage-hour app for iPhones and iPads.  The app puts federal wage-hour law, as well as that for many states, at users’ fingertips.

We have recently added New Jersey law to the app, as well as updated it to reflect changes in California law following the long awaited Brinker v. Superior Court decision clarifying meal and rest period laws.

The app may be found here:  http://itunes.apple.com/app/wage-hour-guide/id500292238?mt=8

Blogs
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By:  Kara M. Maciel

In April of 2011, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) changed its rule defining the general characteristics of tips in an attempt to overrule the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit’s decision in Cumbie v. Woody Woo, Inc. ruling that the FLSA does not impose any restrictions on the kinds of employees who may participate in a valid tip pool where the employer does not claim the “tip credit.”

DOL’s Recent Position on Tip Pool Participation

The DOL’s amended rule provides that tips are the property of the employees, and may not be used by the employer ...

Blogs
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By: Kara M. Maciel and Jordan Schwartz

A recent allegation of disability discrimination from the parents of a three-year old boy with special needs has resulted in a national fitness club chain revising its policies and procedures and implementing staff training.  The alleged discrimination occurred after the child had been playing with toys in the fitness club’s Kids’ Club and had refused to move from his position in front of a slide.  Upon learning from his parents that he had autism, a staff member informed them that, had the staff known that he was autistic, they would not have ...

Blogs
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By Michael Kun

On Monday, June 25, 2011, the California Supreme Court issued its long-awaited decision in Coito v. Superior Court, addressing the issue of whether a party in litigation could rely upon the work product doctrine to withhold witness statements obtained by its attorneys or the identities of persons who had given such statements. 

In short, while parties in California have long relied upon dicta in the Court of Appeal decision known as  Nacht v. Lewis for the proposition that such information is protected from disclosure by the work product doctrine, case-by-case ...

Blogs
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By Matthew Sorensen and Dana Livne

One of the major ways in which American employment law has traditionally differed from its British counterpart has been its entrenched employment “at-will” doctrine. The “at-will” employment doctrine provides employers with the right to terminate their relationships with their employees at any time, with or without notice or cause.  UK companies doing business in the US are often relieved to be advised that they become “at-will” employers to their US-based employees. In the US, unless an employer has entered an employment contract ...

Blogs
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By: Paul Rosenberg

Last week the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) urged the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit to uphold its controversial Specialty Healthcare decision.  The NLRB’s 3-1 split decision in Specialty Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center of Mobile, overturned a 1991 decision and held that an employer that challenges a proposed bargaining unit on the basis that it improperly excludes certain employees is required to prove that the excluded workers share “an overwhelming community of interest” with those in the proposed unit. 

The NLRB ...

Blogs
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By Evan Rosen

Hospitality employers continue to get hit with class action lawsuits alleging that they are unlawfully taking the tip credit for their employees.  Under federal law, and the law of most states, an employer may pay less than the minimum wage to any employee who regularly and customarily receives tips.  The difference between the minimum wage and the hourly wage rate is called the "tip credit."  

This compensation system, when administered correctly, has the advantage of saving employers a significant sum of money.  But employers must implement ...

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Read the Full Announcement

Epstein Becker Green is proud to announce that it has received the 2012 Chambers USA Award for Excellence in the Healthcare category. The results were announced at an awards dinner held on Thursday, June 7, 2012, in New York. Other firms nominated in the Healthcare category included Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP; Hogan Lovells US LLP; King & Spalding LLP; McDermott Will & Emery LLP; Ober Kaler Grimes & Shriver PC; and Proskauer Rose LLP.

 The Chambers USA Awards for Excellence are based on research for the 2012 edition of Chambers USA: America's Leading ...

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ByMichael S. Kun and Aaron F. Olsen

Earlier this week, the California Court of Appeals issued a ruling in Iskanian v. CLS Transportation Los Angeles, LLC that illustrates how the legal landscape in California has shifted in favor of enforcing arbitration agreements with class action waivers.  This, of course, is a welcome development for employers with operations in California, which have been besieged by class action lawsuits alleging wage-and-hour violations for the past 10+ years.

In 2006, the plaintiff in Iskanian filed a putative class action complaint against his ...

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The Legal 500 United States, now in its 26th year, collects feedback from more than 180,000 in-house counsel and lawyers to select the leading law firms and lawyers in specific legal practice areas and industries.  The Legal 500 is an independent guide, and firms and individuals are recommended purely on merit. 

In 2012, both of Epstein Becker Green’s founding practices - Health Care and Life Sciences and Labor and Employment - as well as several individual attorneys, were recognized as leaders in their fields of practice.

For more information about the ranking and to read excerpts ...

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We are pleased to announce that “Preparing for Non-Compete Litigation,” a guide published by The Practical Law Company and authored by EpsteinBeckerGreen’s Peter A. Steinmeyer and Zachary C. Jackson, is now available in PDF format. The guide is a valuable discussion of the primary considerations for employers seeking to initiate legal action to enforce a non-compete agreement.

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By Kara Maciel and Aaron Olsen

After five years of litigation, a Los Angeles Superior Court has denied class certification of a class action against Joe’s Crab Shack Restaurants on claims that its managers were misclassified as exempt and denied meal and rest periods in violation of California law.  The court found that the plaintiffs had not established adequacy of class representatives, typicality, commonality or superiority, and emphasized a defendant’s due process right to provide individualized defenses to class members’ claims.

Because the case was handled by our ...

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By Forrest Read

            In recent years, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has taken the aggressive approach of expanding charges it receives from one or a few individuals into larger-scale class actions in federal courts.  Last week, in EEOC v. United Road Towing, Inc., the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois declined to challenge the adequacy of the EEOC’s administrative practices, thus giving ammunition to the EEOC to continue its approach of widening litigation involving alleged discrimination.

            In that case, the employer, URT, argued that the ...

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By:  Kara Maciel

On March 15, 2012, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) had temporarily postponed compliance with the 2010 ADA Standards as it relates to providing accessible entries and exits to pools and spas.  That day was set to expire later this month, on May 21, 2012, but the DOJ has announced that it will extend that compliance date to January 31, 2013 – a nine month extension from the original compliance date of March 15, 2012.

This extension to January 31, 2013, however, does not change the substance of the DOJ’s requirement that lifts be “fixed.”  The DOJ failed to ...

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By: Kara M. Maciel and Elizabeth Bradley

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit is rapidly becoming the champion of employers in the fight against the National Labor Relations Board’s (the “Board”) attempt to implement radical new rules governing the workplace.

Last month, on April 17, 2012, the D.C. Circuit enjoined the implementation of the Board’s rule requiring that employers post a notice informing employees of their right to join or form a union. Yesterday, the D.C. Circuit struck another blow to the Board by holding that its proposed union election rules ...

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By  Kara Maciel and Casey Cosentino

The restaurant and hospitality industries are no strangers to the tidal wave of wage and hour class action lawsuits. Restaurants and hotel operators located in states with employee-friendly laws like Massachusetts, New York, and California, are particularly vulnerable. This vulnerability was recently confirmed on April 30, 2012, when Texas Roadhouse, Inc. agreed to pay $5 million to settle a putative class action suit filed by wait staff employees from nine restaurants in Massachusetts.

In Crenshaw, et. al, v. Texas Roadhouse, Inc. (No ...

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By Jeffrey M. Landes, Susan Gross Sholinsky, and Jennifer A. Goldman, with Teiko Shigezumi

On April 25, 2012, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") issued an enforcement guidance document titled "Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et. seq." (the "Guidance"), with respect to employers' use of arrest and conviction information in connection with employment decisions.

Disparate Treatment v. Disparate Impact

Although ...

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By Eric J. Conn and Casey M. Cosentino

In what has been good news for hospitality employers, the past month has been a rough stretch for OSHA in terms of Injury and Illness Recordkeeping enforcement.  As we reported last month on the OSHA Law Update Blog, in March, the Seventh Circuit beat back OSHA’s attempt to expand the meaning of “work related” for purposes of determining whether an injury or illnesses is recordable.  Then last month, the District of Columbia Circuit further and dramatically limited OSHA’s authority to cite Recordkeeping violations, by insisting that the ...

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By Michael Kun

Yesterday, only weeks after its long-awaited Brinker v. Superior Court decision, the California Supreme Court issued another important ruling on California meal and rest period laws. 

In Kirby v. Immoos Fire Protection, Inc., the Supreme Court ruled that neither party may recover attorney’s fees on claims involving meal and rest periods.  The Court analyzed the legislative history of the meal and rest period provisions and concluded, “We believe the most plausible inference to be drawn from history is that the Legislature intended [meal and rest period] claims to ...

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by Carrie Corcoran, Matthew T. Miklave, and Susan Gross Sholinsky

 The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") has issued a long-awaited final rule ("Final Rule"), which amends the regulation on the "reasonable factors other than age" ("RFOA") defense available under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act ("ADEA"). The Final Rule is available at 29 C.F.R. Part 1625. The EEOC previously published proposed rules regarding the RFOA defense on March 31, 2008, and then on February 18, 2010. The Final Rule takes into account public comments received on those proposals.

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By Eric J. Conn and Casey M. Cosentino

For years, OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standard (“HazCom”) has been the standard most frequently cited against hotel and other hospitality employers.

In FY 2011 37 hotel companies were cited for violations of the HazCom Standard, including, primarily, alleged failures to:

(1) maintain a written Hazard Communication Program;

(2) ensure each container of hazardous chemicals (such as cleaning agents) is labeled, tagged, or marked;

(3) maintain a complete set of Material Safety Data Sheets (“MSDS’s”) for each hazardous ...

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By: Kara M. Maciel and Matthew Sorensen

Social media has become an increasingly important tool for businesses to market their products and services. As the use of social media in business continues to grow, companies will face new challenges with respect to the protection of their confidential information and business goodwill, as several recent federal district court decisions demonstrate.  

Christou v. Beatport, LLC (D. Colo. 2012), Ardis Health, LLC v. Nankivell (S.D. N.Y. 2011), and PhoneDog v. Kravitz (N.D. Cal. 2011) each involved former employees who took the login ...

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By Michael Kun

This morning, the California Supreme Court has just issued its long-awaited decision in the Brinker case regarding meal and rest period requirements.   It is largely, but not entirely, a victory for employers.  A copy of the decision is here.

A few highlights of the decision:

On rest periods, the Court confirmed the certification of a rest period class because Brinker’s written policy arguably did not comply with the law as to the second rest period in a day.  In so doing, it clarified when employees are entitled to rest periods:

  • Employees are entitled to 10 minutes’ rest ...
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By: Jay P. Krupin and Dana Livne

Historically, the United States has continuously attracted international commerce and investment. In recent years, in spite of a challenging economic situation, international hospitality groups continue to seek opportunities in the US for financial growth, promotion, and strategic reasons. When they do so, they must comply with unfamiliar and complex labor and employment laws which are constantly changing. In the US especially, the increasingly litigious environment can affect every step of the enterprise – right from the start ...

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by Amy J. Traub, Anna A. Cohen, and Jennifer A. Goldman

Effective April 3, 2012, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") extended its existing recordkeeping requirements under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Americans with Disabilities Act to employers covered by Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 ("GINA"). The burden on employers to comply with the recordkeeping requirements under GINA will likely be minimal, as employers should already have recordkeeping policies in effect for personnel and other employment ...

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By Matthew Sorensen

Wage garnishment can pose a number of potential problems for hospitality businesses. This is particularly true where the employee whose pay is subject to garnishment receives tips.

Garnishment is a legal procedure in which an employee’s earnings must be withheld by an employer for the payment of a debt under a court order. When faced with a garnishment order involving a tipped employee, the employer must determine whether all or part of the employee’s tips must be included in the amounts withheld under the garnishment order. This question turns on ...

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By:  Paul Rosenberg

The National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) seems intent upon helping unions organize employees.  It continues to pass rules, issue decisions, or announce new policies which will almost certainly facilitate union organizing.  The latest example occurred on March 22 when the NLRB announced that in the next two weeks it is launching an “educational” website aimed at informing non-union employees of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”).   In conjunction with this unprecedented website the NLRB is preparing brochures which will ...

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By:   Jordan Schwartz

Like many attorneys, I spend a significant amount of time traveling, whether it is to meet with clients, take depositions, or conduct training sessions. Business-related travel certainly is not unique to the legal industry. In fact, more and more employees in other industries, including the hospitality industry, are spending a greater amount of time traveling for work than ever before. Such travel typically includes attending out-of-state trade shows, recruiting visits, job fairs, and sales calls. As an exempt employee, compensation for travel ...

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Remember that all new H-1B petitions must be filed on March 30, 2012, to ensure that they are counted toward the 2013 H-1B cap.

The annual H-1B season has arrived! The federal government is authorized by statute to approve only 65,000 new H-1B visas each fiscal year, plus an additional 20,000 H-1B visas set aside for applicants who have master's degrees from accredited American universities. The federal government's fiscal year begins on October 1, but the governing regulations permit employers to apply for new H-1B non-immigrant visas up to six months in advance. Hence, the filing ...

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By:  Kara M. Maciel

Today, March 15, marks the effective date of the 2010 ADA Standards for hotels, restaurants, retailers, spas, golf clubs and other places of public accomodation.  As we have written about previously, there are several new requirements and obligations that the hospitality industry must implement in order to ensure their properties are compliant with the new regulations.  Below are five steps every hospitality owner and operator should consider to avoid costly fines and lawsuits:

1.  Implement new reservation policies for blocking off rooms and ensuring ...

Blogs
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By:  Paul Rosenberg

As described in our blog on January 5, 2012, the National Labor Relations Board’s (“NLRB”) new rules governing union elections introduce a host of changes which will place employers at a disadvantage.  The new rules will go into effect on April 30, 2012, subject to a legal challenge pending in federal court.  However, they are seemingly just the beginning of the NLRB’s concerted effort to drastically change a process which has been in place for several decades.  A recent decision ignoring 75 years of precedence is illustrative.

In 2 Sisters Food Group ...

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By:      Mark M. Trapp

In these challenging economic times, many private clubs are finding it increasingly difficult to attract new members, or to retain existing members.  Over the last few years many clubs have lost members, and many more are facing substantial drops in revenues due to a decline in money spent by members on activities such as golfing or dining out.  Many golf, country and social clubs are finding it difficult to sustain their amenities and level of service. 

Because the economic situation is decreasing the potential membership pool, many clubs are offering incentives to ...

Blogs
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By Casey M. Cosentino and Eric J. Conn

“Texting while driving” is an epidemic in America, which has prompted forty-two states and the District of Columbia to ban (completely or partially) this conduct for drivers.  Here’s a map of the U.S. states that have enacted some ban on texting while driving.  Studies suggest that texting while driving distracts drivers’ cognitive focus and removes their eyes from the road and hands from the wheel.  It is not surprising, therefore, that distracted driving is attributed with sixteen percent (16%) of all traffic fatalities in 2009.

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By:  Casey Cosentino

A hotel management company was recently hit with a putative class action in federal court for allegedly failing to compensate hotel employees overtime pay at one and one-half times their regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 hours in a workweek. As the chief engineer, the lead plaintiff was classified as an executive employee and, thus, was exempt from overtime requirements under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). The lead plaintiff asserts, however, that he was misclassified under the Executive exemption because he “regularly and ...

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by Jeffrey M. Landes, Susan Gross Sholinsky, Steven M. Swirsky, and Jennifer A. Goldman

 

On January 25, 2012, the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") sent warning letters to three companies that market, in total, six mobile phone applications ("Apps") that provide users with background check reports. In the warning letters, the FTC states that the Apps may violate the Fair Credit Reporting Act ("FCRA"). According to a press release issued by the FTC on February 7, 2012, the FTC cautioned the Apps' marketers that, if they have reason to believe that the background reports provided will be ...

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By Michael Kun

As wage-and-hour litigation is more prevalent than ever, we believe that employers everywhere need easy access to federal and state wage-and-hour laws. With that in mind, we are pleased to announce that EBG’s free Wage-and-Hour app is now available in the Apple iTunes Store for downloading. The app puts federal wage-and-hour laws at your fingertips, along with those laws of many states. You can find the app by using the search term “Wage Hour” or by simply clicking here.    We hope you will enjoy it.

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by David D. Green, Frank C. Morris, Jr., Allen B. Roberts

Two recent decisions on arbitration, one from the National Labor Relations Board ("NLRB" or "Board") and one from the Supreme Court of the United States, present an interesting question: Can employers limit employees from launching potentially costly class actions? Some employers have applicants or new employees sign a separate agreement, or include a clause in application forms or in the employee handbook (which employees acknowledge), requiring employees to bring future disputes to arbitration and to agree that the ...

Blogs
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By Michael Kun

Last week, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division and the California Secretary of Labor announced that they were teaming up to crack down on employers who classify workers as independent contractors. 

The announcement that the two groups would work together on such an initiative should not come as much of a surprise to employers.  Shortly after Hilda Solis took office as the U.S. Secretary of Labor, the Wage and Hour Division announced that it would be focusing on this issue.  And California has enacted a new statute that provides additional penalties in ...

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By:  Forrest G. Read, IV

Arbitration agreements can be an effective way for employers in the hospitality industry to streamline and isolate an employee’s potential claims on an individual basis and protect themselves from a proliferation of lawsuits with many plaintiffs or claimants. But the National Labor Relations Board’s (“Board”) January 6, 2012 decision in D.R. Horton, Inc. and Michael Cuda, notably finalized by two Board Members on departing Member Craig Becker’s final day, has caused significant confusion as to how employers can enforce such arbitration ...

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By:      Ana S. Salper

No governmental body has been more active in addressing social media’s impact on the workplace than the National Labor Relations Board (“Board”). For both unionized and non-unionized employers, the Board has been aggressively scrutinizing the contours of employer discipline of employees for their activities on social media sites, and has regulated and constricted the scope and breadth of employer social media policies. Following his first report in August 2011, National Labor Relations Board Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon has now released a ...

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By:  Evan Rosen

As Hospitalty Labor and Employment Law Blog readers are aware, on August 30, 2011, the National Labor Relations Board (the “Board”) issued a rule requiring employers to post notices informing employees of their right to join or form a union.  We blogged about the impact of the notice and its requirements on hospitality employers here.  The rule was originally supposed to go into effect in November, but was subsequently pushed back to January 31, 2012 as a result of mounting criticism against the rule.  Indeed, several lawsuits have been filed by business ...

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By: Kara M. Maciel

As hoteliers and hospitality employers know, the upcoming March 15, 2012 deadline for the 2010 ADA Standards will have significant impact on hotel operations. Some of the regulations involve new features that previously had not been regulated by the ADA, including swimming pools, spas, exercise facilities, golf and sauna and steam rooms.  All newly constructed recreational facilities built after March 15, 2012 must comply with the new standards; whereas, existing facilities must meet the new standards as soon as readily achievable.  For hoteliers, some of ...

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by Marisa S. Ratinoff, Susan Gross Sholinsky, Eric A. Cook, and Jennifer A. Goldman

California’s Wage Theft Prevention Act of 2011 (“CAWTPA”) went into effect on January 1, 2012. The CAWTPA requires most private-sector employers to provide notice to non-exempt employees of certain wage payment information, among other things. As we previously reported (see Act Now Advisory “New California Laws Increase Penalties for Employee Misclassification and Wage Theft”), the CAWTPA requires the Labor Commissioner (“Commissioner”) to create a template for employers to ...

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by Maxine H. Neuhauser and Amy E. Hatcher

With the start of 2012, New Jersey employers may find it useful to review the notification requirements relating to employees' workplace rights and responsibilities under state law. This Act Now Advisory serves as a reminder and summary of New Jersey's notification requirements applicable to most employers.

Employers are mandated under New Jersey law to display official posters informing employees of the law relating to their rights and responsibilities. An employer that fails to comply with these requirements may face monetary fines and ...

Blogs
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By Peter M. Panken, Michael S. Kun, Douglas Weiner and Larissa Lalor-Rosado

Hotels, restaurants and private clubs all rely on sponsored events, banquets and social soirees for the profitability of their operation.  Most employ one or more “managers” to solicit the business, work with the clients, detail the services to be provided, prepare the contract and even negotiate a price.  In most instances higher management must approve the terms the managers propose including the financial arrangements.  In other cases the basic terms are set forth in directions which can only be varied ...

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By:   Jordan Schwartz

The holiday season is often the busiest time of the year for hospitality employers. At the same time, employees may appreciate the opportunity to earn more during these busy months. Consequently, there may be occasions when an employer places an employee in a dual capacity role. For example, from November through January, a hotel may permit (or require) a housekeeping attendant to also function as a front desk reservation assistant. While assigning (or permitting) an employee to work at another post with a different rate of pay is generally permissible ...

Blogs
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By: Paul Rosenberg

On December 9, 2011, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (“the Court”) refused to enforce a National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) decision that a hotel unlawfully suspended hospitality workers who engaged in a work stoppage.  Fortuna Enters. LP v. NLRB, D.C. Cir., No. 10-1272 (December 9, 2011).  In this case, UNITE HERE – the largest hospitality union in the country – was seeking to organize employees of the hotel. While the union organizing drive was ongoing, the hotel suspended an employee pending an investigation into whether ...

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By Dena L. Narbaitz and Marisa S. Ratinoff

While everyone awaits the California Supreme Court's ruling in Brinker Restaurant Corp. v. Superior Court (Hohnbaum) – which is expected sometime in early 2012 and will determine the scope of an employer's meal and rest period obligations – employers must not lose sight of other important developments in California employment law. Below are brief summaries of some of the legislative enactments in California that will affect employers. Unless otherwise noted, these laws will take effect on January 1, 2012.

Read the full advisory ...

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 By Michael Kun

 On January 1, 2012, the minimum wage for employees working in San Francisco will rise to $10.24 per hour. 

This is, to our knowledge, the first time the minimum wage in any U.S. city has ever exceeded $10 per hour.

Employers with employees in San Francisco will need to make sure that they make appropriate adjustments to their payroll systems and practices to account for the increase.

Blogs
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By:  Evan Rosen

Yesterday, the National Labor Relations Board (the “Board”) voted, 2-1, to approve its Resolution to drastically amend the rules governing union elections.  While the Board’s stated reason for the amendment is to reduce unnecessary litigation, it is apparent that this purpose is a sham, and that the real reason is to make it significantly easier for unions to organize employees, especially those in the highly targeted hospitality industry. 

The Board did not vote on the entire proposal detailed in their June 22, 2011Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, but rather ...

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by William J. Milani, Jeffrey M. Landes, Susan Gross Sholinsky, and Jennifer A. Goldman

For the first time, in 2012, New York employers must provide all New York employees with an annual notice and acknowledgment of pay rate and pay date ("Notice") pursuant to the Wage Theft Prevention Act ("WTPA"), which amended the New York State Labor Law ("Labor Law"), effective April 9, 2011.

As we previously reported (see Act Now Advisory "Governor Paterson Signs Overhaul of New York State Labor Law" (Dec. 15, 2010), and Act Now Advisory "They're Here – New York State Department of Labor Issues ...

Blogs
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By:      Forrest Read

The new Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) standards (the “2010 Standards”), set to take effect on March 15, 2012, create new compliance obligations and contain technical specifications impacting what have become fixtures in most hotel lobbies or common areas: automatic teller machines (“ATMs”).  As is customary when new standards are set to take effect and become enforceable, hotels with existing ATMs want to know whether and how their ATMs will be impacted by the 2010 Standards and whether they will be afforded any safe harbor protections for ...

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