Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Tim Garrett discussed the potential delay in implementation of the new overtime rules for an article in Nation’s Restaurant News. A bill that could delay the implementation of the overtime rules by six months cleared the House on September 28, 2016, but the bill faces a potential veto by the President if it progresses pass the Senate. Tim notes that the real battle for the legislation will be whether it can garner the two-thirds vote needed to override the potential veto. “‘I would be surprised,’ Tim said. ‘This is a difficult political point to make it appear as though a senator or congressman is against an increase in pay for the middle class.’”
Continue Reading House Approves Delay in Overtime Rule Implementation
Arming for the Workplace Cultural Dynamics
Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Tim Garrett authored an article for Workforce magazine outlining how the workplace can be considered the unintended battleground for cultural wars. In the article, Tim identifies the causes of this reality and the tension it creates; highlights certain “false” solutions; and provides a more effective, practical solution for working toward a coherent, team-oriented, positive work environment.
Continue Reading Arming for the Workplace Cultural Dynamics
SEC Fines Public Companies for Attempting to Limit Whistleblower Incentives in Severance Agreements
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently fined BlueLinx Holdings and Health Net, Inc. for including within severance agreements a provision designed to eliminate a former employee’s right to recover whistleblower incentives. In what is generally considered a standard provision in severance agreements, the companies’ agreements allowed for the former employees’ participation in any government investigation but required a waiver of the right to recover any incentive payments that the law provides for whistleblowers. The SEC issued substantial fines to these companies for this waiver requirement. The SEC explained that the whistleblower incentive is a key part of the SEC’s enforcement efforts and that any public company’s attempt to eliminate or limit that incentive violates the law.
Continue Reading SEC Fines Public Companies for Attempting to Limit Whistleblower Incentives in Severance Agreements
3 Overtime Pay Policy Repercussions
Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Tim Garrett provided insight on the Department of Labor’s (DOL) overtime pay policy, slated to take effect on December 1, 2016 (for additional background on the DOL policy, read the firm’s blog post, “DOL Announces New Salary Level in Overtime Regulations“). As Tim points out for the article, “‘I’m not saying overtime pay shouldn’t be increased, but this should be done in more responsible manner… The regulations currently don’t recognize some unintended consequences.’” According to Tim, these consequences may include the following:
Continue Reading 3 Overtime Pay Policy Repercussions
DOL Announces New Salary Level in Overtime Regulations
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has announced a new “salary level” to the so-called white collar overtime exemptions under the Fair Labor Standards Act. In short, the new rules take effect December 1, 2016, and will more than double the salary level for those employees classified as exempt from overtime pay from the current level of $23,660 to the new level of $47,476, or $913 per week. The highly compensated executive salary level has been raised to $134,000. The new rule is expected to impact millions of employees and is expected to be especially hard on small businesses, nonprofits, many retailers, and employers in some regions of the country.
The DOL also announced that the salary level will be adjusted automatically every three years, based on the 40th percentile of the weekly earnings of full-time salaried workers in the lowest-wage Census region. Historically, the DOL has taken the position that future adjustments in salary level required new rule-making.Continue Reading DOL Announces New Salary Level in Overtime Regulations
Attorneys React To DOL’s Final Overtime Exemption Rule
In an article published on May 18, 2016 by Law360, Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Tim Garrett provided insight on the Department of Labor’s (DOL) final rule raising the minimum salary level for those employees qualifying for overtime pay. As Tim states for the article:
Continue Reading Attorneys React To DOL’s Final Overtime Exemption Rule
Mental Impairments: When Can an Employer Require a Fitness-for-Duty Exam?
Employers often must balance the mandates of seemingly competing directives. A challenging example arises in the area of possible mental impairment. An employer may hear concerns that an employee is acting abnormally, or has hinted at a desire to hurt herself, or is exhibiting other possible signs of mental impairment. The employer does not wish to stereotype the employee unfairly, or unlawfully “regard” the employee as disabled; yet, the employer also must ensure a safe work environment for other employees and others on the premises.
Continue Reading Mental Impairments: When Can an Employer Require a Fitness-for-Duty Exam?
EEOC Alleges in Two Lawsuits That Title VII Prohibitions Extend to Sexual Orientation Bias
The EEOC recently announced two new lawsuits it has filed alleging that employers have violated Title VII’s protections against gender bias to include prohibitions against sexual orientation bias. The lawsuits are not very surprising in light of the EEOC’s position last July, in Baldwin v. Department of Transportation. There, in a case involving a federal employee, the EEOC took the position that discrimination against a person based on sexual orientation is, by its nature, discrimination on the basis of sex.
Continue Reading EEOC Alleges in Two Lawsuits That Title VII Prohibitions Extend to Sexual Orientation Bias
Court Rules Student-Athletes Not Employees
An Indiana Federal Court Judge recently ruled that NCAA student-athletes are not employees and thus do not have a claim for minimum wage payments. In Anderson et al. v. NCAA et al., three former track athletes claimed that, as student-athletes, they really should be treated as student interns and that under the Department of
Workplace Conflicts: How Involved Must An Employer Be?
Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Tim Garrett analyzed an employer’s obligations in responding to workplace conflict among employees. Conduct on social media between colleagues and domestic violence situations that can spill over into the workplace have blurred the lines of what is considered on-duty and off-duty behavior. This new landscape has left many employers wondering