According to the US Department of Labor, in the week ending August 2, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 455,000, an increase of 7,000 from the previous week’s unrevised figure of 448,000. The 4-week moving average was 419,500, an increase of 26,750 from the previous week’s revised average of 392,750.
The US Department of Labor recently issued non-Administrator signed Opinion Letter FLSA2008-7NA. 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). Unlike signed Opinion Letters, unsigned Opinion Letters do not “provide a potential good faith reliance defense for violations of the FLSA.” This Opinion Letter, in a question and answer format, discusses written policies regarding break and meal periods. The conclusions are as follows: 1) An employee, in violation of company policy, did not take a meal break or notify his supervisor that he did not take a break during a week in which he worked less than forty hours. No additional compensation is due the employee as long as he receives at least minimum wage for all hours worked, including the missed meal break. 2) The missed meal break that was worked counts toward the forty hour threshold for paying overtime to non-exempt employees. If the employee works more than forty hours, “the employee must be must be paid for all hours worked at the agreed rate plus the overtime premium.” 3) The answers to Q1 and Q2 are the same if, instead of missing a meal break, the employee arrives to work early or leaves work late in violation of written policy. 4) A written advisory to the employee not to work “unrecorded work hours” and that such work would subject the employee to disciplinary action is not necessarily enough to change the answer to Q3. Generally, it is management’s responsibility to make sure that such work should not be performed. 5) An employee receives time and one half pay that is not required under the FLSA, but paid due to company policy or contractual obligation, e.g., the employee is paid the premium if he works more than eight hours in a day. This premium may be credited toward any overtime premium required under the FLSA. Also, the additional pay does not need to be included in the calculation of the employee’s “regular” rate that is used to calculate the overtime premium. 6) Wages may be paid based on a methodology that rounds time worked “to the nearest five minutes, or the nearest one tenth or quarter of an hour” as long as, in the long run, the system does not fail to compensate employees properly for time worked. 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.
The unemployment rate rose to 5.7 percent, and nonfarm payroll employment continued to trend down in July (-51,000), the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported Friday. Employment continued to fall in construction, manufacturing, and several service-providing industries, while health care and mining continued to add jobs. Average hourly earnings rose by 6 cents, or 0.3 percent, over the month. Both the number of unemployed persons (8.8 million) and the unemployment rate (5.7 percent) rose in July. Over the past 12 months, the number of unemployed persons has increased by 1.6 million, and the unemployment rate has risen by 1.0 percentage point. Over the month, the unemployment rates for adult men (5.3 percent) and whites (5.1 percent) edged up while the rates for adult women (4.6 percent), blacks (9.7 percent), and Hispanics (7.4 percent) were little changed. The jobless rate for teenagers increased to 20.3 percent in July. The unemployment rate for Asians was 4.0 percent in July, not seasonally adjusted. Among the unemployed, the number of reentrants to the labor force in July rose by 207,000 to 2.7 million. The number has increased by 623,000 over the past 12 months. The number of unemployed persons who had lost their last job was about unchanged over the month at 4.4 million, but has risen by 778,000 over the year.
The US Department of Labor recently issued Administrator signed Opinion Letter FLSA2008-5. 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). This Opinion Letter discusses whether a school district can add an extra week to a pay period about five times over a twenty-eight year period and still comply with the Fair Labor Standards Act. For example, an employee who earns $13 per hour is paid a bi-weekly salary of $1,040 ($13 per hour X 40 hours per week X 52 weeks per year ÷ 26 pay periods per year). Non-exempt employees are paid overtime for hours worked in excess of forty in any particular week. Since there is a day or two more than fifty-two weeks in every year, the district would sometimes have twenty-seven pay periods. To maintain its policy of twenty-six pay periods per year, the district adds a third week to one pay period, but still pays the same salary. The employee in the example above would still receive $1,040 for a three-week period. Since the rate of pay is $8.67 for the three-week period, ($1,040 ÷ 120 [40 hours per week X 3 weeks]), the pay rate exceeds federal minimum wage. Furthermore, since non-exempt employees were paid overtime for hours worked in excess of forty in any of the three weeks, the policy did not violate the FLSA. 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.
The US Department of Labor recently issued Administrator signed Opinion Letter FLSA2008-4. 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. This Opinion Letter discusses whether a requirement to wear a certain type of shoe constitutes a uniform. It also discusses whether the employer is allowed to deduct a portion of the cost of the shoes from the employee’s pay, even if such deduction causes the employee’s pay rate to be below minimum wage. In this case, the employer “requires employees to wear ‘dark-colored’ shoes without prescribing any particular quality, brand, style, model, or type.” Optionally, an employee may purchase such shoes from a vendor through a program administered by the employer that allows the employee to elect to have the employer pay the cost of the shoes and deduct the cost from the employee’s paycheck. Since the employer’s only requirements were the color and that the shoes have non-slip soles and not be open-toed, they were not considered to be part of a uniform. Also, as the shoes were not part of a uniform and the employer did not deduct more than the actual cost of the shoes, the shoes can be considered “other facilities” furnished by the employer and therefore part of the wages paid the employee. 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 July 26, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 448,000, an increase of 44,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 404,000. The 4-week moving average was 393,000, an increase of 11,000 from the previous week’s revised average of 382,000.
The US Department of Labor proposed a rule change that would require participants in 401(k) plans to receive “investment-related information in a comparative chart or similar format.” The chart could be based on a model chart designed by the Department of Labor or a plan fiduciary could design a different chart or use a comparative format to relay the information. On a regular basis, participants would receive “basic information about the plan and its investment options, such as what options are available under the plan, how to give investment instructions, investment returns and fees and expenses, and how to obtain more detailed information.” The proposed regulation would be effective for plan years beginning after December 31, 2008.
According to the US Department of Labor, in the week ending July 19, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 406,000, an increase of 34,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 372,000. The 4-week moving average was 382,500, an increase of 4,500 from the previous week’s revised average of 378,000.
According to the US Department of Labor, in the week ending July 12, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 366,000, an increase of 18,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 348,000. The 4-week moving average was 376,500, a decrease of 4,500 from the previous week’s revised average of 381,000.
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