Earlier this month, in Yu v. Hasaki Restaurant Inc., the Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that settlements of Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) lawsuits reached through the “offer of judgment” procedure under Rule 68 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure do not require judicial approval. The court’s decision resolved a significant open
Wage-and-hour
New Jersey’s Minimum Wage to Rise to $15 Per Hour
On February 4, 2019, Governor Phil Murphy signed into law a bill (A-15) that will increase New Jersey’s minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2024 for the majority of New Jersey’s workers. Pursuant to the new law, the State’s minimum wage, which is currently $8.85 per hour, will increase according to the following schedule:…
Is Your Intern Really an Intern or an Employee – DOL Adopts the “Primary Beneficiary Test”
As the winter months bear down on us, many of us find our thoughts wistfully drifting to sun, sand, and all things summer. Summer months, however, also bring (for most employers) summer interns and one of the more befuddling employment issues: do I have to pay my summer intern? Stated another way: is my intern,…
Forum Selection Clause Bars NJ Wage Payment Law Claim in NJ Court
On October 19, 2017, the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled that New Jersey based Mary Kay consultants could not bring a claim in New Jersey federal court against Mary Kay for alleged violations of the New Jersey Wage Payment Law (“NJWPL”). The court relied upon the broad forum-selection clause in the consulting…
UPDATE: New York DOL Amends Regulation Governing Home Health Care Aides Pay
As previously discussed, recent decisions from the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, found a New York State Department of Labor (“NYDOL”) opinion letter was not a “rational or reasonable” interpretation of New York Labor laws and regulations. In Andryeyeva and Moreno, the Second Department found that “live-in” home health care aides, whom…