Category Archives: DOL

04.17.17
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Unpaid Internships: Six Tips For Avoiding Minimum Wage Requirements

student unpaid internship frog-1339892_1920It’s summer intern hiring season. Can your interns be unpaid? If you pay them something, can you pay a small stipend that amounts to less than minimum wage?

Wage and hour laws dictate when a summer intern must be paid like a regular employee, with a required minimum wage and eligibility for overtime. Seasonal amusement and recreational establishments (such as summer camps or some amusement parks) may qualify for a special exemption, but this post is focused on more conventional year-round businesses.

Here are six tips for maintaining unpaid internship status: Continue reading →

01.30.17
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Four FMLA Traps When Using Temp Workers — and How to Avoid Them

The FMLA is full of traps for companies who use staffing agency workers, both for staff augmentation and temp-to-hire. Here are a few of the most common mistakes and how to avoid them:

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photo credit: ransomtech Chimney Bluffs State Park via photopin (license)

1. Mistake: Not counting staffing agency time as service time, when determining whether the worker has worked for 12 months.

Tip: Staffing agency time counts. Add staffing agency time plus regular employee time to determine whether the worker has 12 months of service time. Accumulate all time worked during the past seven years. Continue reading →

01.23.17
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Can You Pay a Contractor Overtime? Should You?

independent-contractor-questionsLet’s talk about good old-fashioned 1099 Independent Contractors — you know, those individuals who are happy to be called contractors until they’re released and then decide they should have been treated as employees.

When retaining a contractor, one of the goals, of course, is to ensure that the contractor is properly classified and is not really (factually) an employee. A secondary goal, however, is to limit liability if the contractor is misclassified.

Today’s question sits at the intersection of these two goals. Continue reading →

01.12.17
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You Knew College Athletes Weren’t Employees, But Did You Know Why?

college-athletesYou knew that college athletes were not employees of their schools, but did you know the legal reason why?

Let’s look at a recent case that arose under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

In early 2015, a group of student-athletes sued several schools and the NCAA, alleging that they had put in thousands of hours of work for the benefit of their school, without compensation. The student-athletes alleged that they should have been paid at least a minimum wage, as required under the FLSA.

Continue reading →

01.10.17
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What is the Economic Realities Test?

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The Economic Realities Test seeks to determine whether, as a matter of economic reality, the worker is reliant on the hiring party, or is in business for him/herself.

[UPDATED 10/9/2021, 3/15/22:  See Notes in red, below.]

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) uses an Economic Realities Test to determine whether a worker is a contractor or an employee.  If the worker is an employee under this test, then the federal minimum wage and overtime rules apply, subject to any exemptions.  This test is also used to determine who is an employee under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Continue reading →

12.26.16
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Why Misclassification Matters

Uh Oh!

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With a finding of worker misclassification, the workers you thought were not your employees are suddenly deemed your employees.  What does that mean practically?  It means that you have not been complying with all of the laws that apply to employees.

Continue reading →