Andrea M Kirshenbaum

October 28, 2019 | The Legal Intelligencer

The DOL estimates that its final rule, which will become effective Jan. 1, 2020, will extend overtime pay eligibility to 1.3 million workers. The salary threshold in the final rule is nearly identical to the $679 per week proposed earlier this year by the DOL.

By Andrea M. Kirshenbaum

8 minute read

July 26, 2019 | The Legal Intelligencer

All private employers employing 100 or more employees and subject to Title VII must submit an EEO-1 report annually.

By Andrea M. Kirshenbaum and David E. Renner

7 minute read

March 21, 2019 | The Legal Intelligencer

After much anticipation, on March 7, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued its notice of proposed rulemaking, proposing to update, among other things, the Fair Labor Standards Act's (FLSA) salary level for the executive, administrative, professional, outside sales and computer exempt employees from $455 to $679 per week.

By Andrea M. Kirshenbaum and Kayleen Egan

8 minute read

October 29, 2018 | The Legal Intelligencer

As Secretary Alexander Acosta has settled into his position at the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), employers are seeing several new compliance initiatives.

By Andrea M. Kirshenbaum and Kayleen Egan

7 minute read

June 29, 2018 | The Legal Intelligencer

In response to Gov. Tom Wolf's call to “modernize” Pennsylvania's overtime rules, on June 23, 2018 the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry (L&I) proposed rulemaking to update the decades-old regulations applicable to three classes of overtime exempt employees under the Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act (PMWA): executive, administrative, and professional (EAP).

By Andrea M. Kirshenbaum and Benjamin S. Teris

6 minute read

March 30, 2018 | The Legal Intelligencer

Restaurants and hotels increasingly have found themselves over the last several years as defendants in lawsuits or the subject of investigation by the DOL's Wage and Hour Division challenging their “tip pooling” practices.

By Andrea M. Kirshenbaum

6 minute read

September 29, 2017 | Corporate Counsel

On Sept. 20, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit issued a ­precedential opinion in Souryavong v. Lackawanna County that is music…

By Andrea M. Kirshenbaum

6 minute read

September 29, 2017 | The Legal Intelligencer

On Sept. 20, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit issued a ­precedential opinion in Souryavong v. Lackawanna County that is music to the ears of employers on two fronts. First, the court of appeals defined a willful violation under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) narrowly, requiring actual awareness of the specific FLSA violation and a degree of egregiousness. Second, the Third Circuit affirmed the district court's attorney fees award, applying a hybrid lodestar and multi-factor test analysis, resulting in an award to the plaintiffs' counsel of approximately one-third of what the plaintiffs originally sought.

By Andrea M. Kirshenbaum

6 minute read

July 28, 2017 | The Legal Intelligencer

A question that has bedeviled ­employers for decades: Can employers obtain a release of claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) in the absence of U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) or court approval? A recent decision in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Gaughan v. Rubenstein, adds more fuel to the fire, ­dismissing a plaintiff's FLSA claims against Lee Rubenstein and holding that the ­plaintiff's "pre-litigation settlement agreement" released her FLSA claims, even without the imprimatur of the DOL or a court.

By Andrea M. Kirshenbaum

7 minute read

January 03, 2017 | The Legal Intelligencer

President-elect Donald Trump ­announced in December his intention to nominate Andrew Puzder as the next secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). A labor department led by Puzder is likely to bring significant shifts in the department's approach to the full range employment and labor issues, including the minimum wage, overtime, and overall enforcement and oversight of wage-and-hour laws, among other changes. Puzder's own ruminations on these issues in books, blog posts, speeches and media coverage offer insight for employers and employees on the philosophy he will bring with him to the Trump administration should he be confirmed by the Senate.

By Andrea M. Kirshenbaum

10 minute read