Year: 2011

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) sets forth overtime and wage guidelines that govern nearly every employee in the United States. Included in the FLSA are requirements that employees earn minimum wage and all employees who are not exempt be paid overtime at a rate of one and one-half times their regular rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of 40. Whether an employee is exempt vs. not-exempt can be a crucial factor in determining how much an employee earns and directly affects if a worker is entitled…

In a victory for workers, the U.S. Supreme Court let stand a 2d Circuit decision stating that pharmaceutical sales reps are entitled to overtime pay. In Novartis, the 2d Circuit court determined that pharmaceutical sales reps are not “outside sales” people and are covered by federal wage and hour laws, entitling them to overtime pay. The court’s reason? Pharmaceutical reps do not actually make sales – they promote drugs to doctors who they hope will then prescribe these drugs. The 2d Circuit also determined that the reps don’t fit into…

If you’ve been fired and receive severance pay, can you still get paid for back wages? Three judges in a Mississippi wage and hour case concluded “yes.” Why? Because severance is not the same as wages. Severance is pay given to an employee that is fired and is considered “additional pay” on top of wages. In a Mississippi case, a woman – Karen Martin – was fired from her job with PepsiAmerica and was offered a severance package with benefits. The package came with a hitch – in order to…