Vision Payroll

According to the US Department of Labor, in the week ending June 20, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 627,000, an increase of 15,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 612,000. The 4-week moving average was 617,250, an increase of 500 from the previous week’s revised average of 616,750.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 5.0% for the week ending June 13, unchanged from the prior week’s unrevised rate of 5.0%.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending June 13 was 6,738,000, an increase of 29,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 6,709,000. The 4-week moving average was 6,759,750, a decrease of 3,250 from the preceding week’s revised average of 6,763,000.

The fiscal year-to-date average for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment for all programs is 5.333 million.

According to the US Department of Labor, in the week ending June 13, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 608,000, an increase of 3,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 605,000. The 4-week moving average was 615,750, a decrease of 7,000 from the previous week’s revised average of 622,750.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 5.0% for the week ending June 6, a decrease of 0.1 percentage points from the prior week’s unrevised rate of 5.1%.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending June 6 was 6,687,000, a decrease of 148,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 6,835,000. The 4-week moving average was 6,757,500, an increase of 2,250 from the preceding week’s revised average of 6,755,250.

The fiscal year-to-date average for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment for all programs is 5.286 million.

According to the US Department of Labor, in the week ending June 6, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 601,000, a decrease of 24,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 625,000. The 4-week moving average was 621,750, a decrease of 10,500 from the previous week’s revised average of 632,250.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 5.1% for the week ending May 30, unchanged from the prior week’s revised rate of 5.1%.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending May 30 was 6,816,000, an increase of 59,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 6,757,000. The 4-week moving average was 6,750,500, an increase of 57,250 from the preceding week’s revised average of 6,693,250.

The fiscal year-to-date average for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment for all programs is 5.238 million.

According to the US Department of Labor, in the week ending May 30, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 621,000, a decrease of 4,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 625,000. The 4-week moving average was 631,250, an increase of 4,000 from the previous week’s revised average of 627,250.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 5.0% for the week ending May 23, unchanged from the prior week’s revised rate of 5.0%.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending May 23 was 6,735,000, a decrease of 15,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 6,750,000. The 4-week moving average was 6,687,500, an increase of 88,750 from the preceding week’s revised average of 6,598,750.

The fiscal year-to-date average for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment for all programs is 5.184 million.

The US Department of Labor (DOL) recently issued Administrator signed Opinion Letter FLSA2009-7. Although Opinion Letters only apply to the exact set of facts and circumstances presented in each case, they are a valuable aid in understanding current interpretations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Because the letter was apparently never mailed after it was signed, the DOL under new Secretary Hilda L. Solis has decided to withdraw the letter for further consideration. Therefore, this letter may not be relied upon as a statement of agency policy. It is possible that a different conclusion may be reached when the Opinion Letter is reissued.

In this Opinion Letter, a county ambulance service requires its employees to be on-call approximately forty hours per week. On-call employees must carry a pager, respond in uniform within five minutes, and abstain from alcohol and other substances. Over a test period of two months, the typical on-call employee responded twelve or thirteen times in a month.

Generally, on-call time is compensable when the restrictions are too burdensome or callbacks are too frequent to allow employees to use the on-call time freely. The DOL concluded that since the town was small enough that employees could travel anywhere in town and still be able to respond in the allotted time, since on-call employees were not disciplined even when taking as long as eight minutes to respond, and since the number of callbacks was not too frequent, employees had effective use of the on-call time for personal purposes and were not required to be compensated (other than time spent on call-backs).

State laws may provide rules that are more beneficial to the employee and must be followed. The DOL may come to a different conclusion when it reissues the Opinion Letter after further consideration. Contact Vision Payroll if you have questions about this Opinion Letter.

The US Department of Labor (DOL) recently issued Administrator signed Opinion Letter FLSA2009-6. Although Opinion Letters only apply to the exact set of facts and circumstances presented in each case, they are a valuable aid in understanding current interpretations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

In this Opinion Letter, an employer requested an opinion as to whether its pilots are exempt under the learned professional exemption. The employer has eight full-time pilots to fly its Gulf Stream and Citation-Excel jet aircraft and its medium Sikorski S76A helicopter. The pilots transport the Company’s executives, customers, and guests on an as needed basis. “The Chief Pilot and all of the Captains (pilots ## 1 – 7) hold FAA Airline Transport Pilot Certifications; all of the pilots (including the First Officer, pilot #8) hold commercial pilot licenses with instrument and multi-engine ratings and each one meets or exceeds the FAA’s requirements to qualify as a pilot-in-command.”

The DOL reaffirmed that since aviation isn’t “a field of science or learning” and that pilots do not acquire their knowledge through a “prolonged course of specialized intellectual instruction”, they are not eligible for the learned professional exemption.

For pilots and co-pilots of airplanes and rotorcraft with an FAA Airline Transport Certificate or Commercial Certificate who are paid a salary of at least $455 per week, the DOL takes a “position of non-enforcement”. This position also requires that the pilots or co-pilots be engaged as follows:

1. Flying of aircraft as business or company pilots;
2. Aerial mineral exploration;
3. Aerial mapping and photography;
4. Aerial forest fire protection;
5. Aerial meteorological research;
6. Test flights of aircraft in connection with engineering, production, or sale;
7. Aerial logging, fire suppression, forest fertilizing, forest seeding, forest spraying, and related activities involving precision flying over mountainous forest areas;
8. Flying activities in connection with transmission tower construction, transmission line construction, transportation of completed structures with precision setting of footings, concrete pouring; or
9. Aerial construction of sections of oil drilling rigs and pipe-lines, and ski-lift and fire lookout constructions.

State laws may provide rules that are more beneficial to the employee and must be followed. Contact Vision Payroll if you have questions about this Opinion Letter.

According to the US Department of Labor, in the week ending May 23, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 623,000, a decrease of 13,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 636,000. The 4-week moving average was 626,750, a decrease of 3,000 from the previous week’s revised average of 629,750.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 5.1% for the week ending May 16, an increase of 0.1 percentage points from the prior week’s unrevised rate of 5.0%.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending May 16 was 6,788,000, an increase of 110,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 6,678,000. The 4-week moving average was 6,608,250, an increase of 123,750 from the preceding week’s revised average of 6,484,500.

The fiscal year-to-date average for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment for all programs is 5.131 million.

The US Department of Labor (DOL) recently issued Administrator signed Opinion Letter FLSA2009-5. Although Opinion Letters only apply to the exact set of facts and circumstances presented in each case, they are a valuable aid in understanding current interpretations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

In this Opinion Letter, the DOL confirmed that lifeguards employed for less than seven months of the year are exempt from the minimum wage and overtime requirements of the FLSA. The lifeguards in question were employed by a town “to protect swimmers at the local beach.”

Since employees of an “establishment that is an amusement or recreation establishment, organized camp, or religious or non-profit conference center” that is not open more than seven months in a calendar year are exempt from the FLSA, a key factor was the definition of “establishment”. The Opinion Letter also confirmed that an amusement or recreational establishment supported by tax revenues cannot qualify under a second test involving the seasonality of the revenue collected.

The Opinion Letter clarified that “the term ‘establishment’ refers to a distinct physical place of business rather than to an entire business or enterprise, which may include several separate places of business.” Also, the fact that some employees may work more than seven months in a year does not deny the exemption as long as the beach is not open for protected swimming for more than seven months.

State laws may provide rules that are more beneficial to the employee and must be followed. Contact Vision Payroll if you have questions about this Opinion Letter.

According to the US Department of Labor, in the week ending May 16, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 631,000, a decrease of 12,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 643,000. The 4-week moving average was 628,500, a decrease of 3,500 from the previous week’s revised average of 632,000.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 5.0% for the week ending May 9, an increase of 0.1 percentage points from the prior week’s unrevised rate of 4.9%.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending May 9 was 6,662,000, an increase of 75,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 6,587,000. The 4-week moving average was 6,480,500, an increase of 131,000 from the preceding week’s revised average of 6,349,500.

The fiscal year-to-date average for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment for all programs is 5.071 million.

According to the US Department of Labor, in the week ending May 9, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 637,000, an increase of 32,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 605,000. The 4-week moving average was 630,500, an increase of 6,000 from the previous week’s revised average of 624,500.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 4.9% for the week ending May 2, an increase of 0.1 percentage points from the prior week’s unrevised rate of 4.8%.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending May 2 was 6,560,000, an increase of 202,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 6,358,000. The 4-week moving average was 6,337,250, an increase of 128,750 from the preceding week’s revised average of 6,208,500.

The fiscal year-to-date average for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment for all programs is 5.011 million.