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Damages
for Misclassified Employees Under the FLSA:
Growing Support for the Half-Time Rate
by
R. Scott Adams
The United States Court of
Appeals for the Fourth Circuit recently provided
additional support for calculating unpaid overtime
compensation under the Fair Labor Standard Act
("FLSA") by paying damages to misclassified
employees at 50% of the regular rate. This
half-time ruling brings the Fourth Circuit in line
with the First, Fifth, Seventh, and Tenth
Circuits, all of which have deemed the half-time
method to be proper, and is an important decision
in light of increased enforcement efforts against
misclassified employees.
Read
more on our website.
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The ADA Amendments Act of
2008 ("ADAAA") has created new liability concerns
for employers since it was enacted a few years
ago. Specifically, the ADAAA protects, among other
persons, "qualified individuals with a disability"
from unlawful discrimination or harassment. It
further requires employers to provide "reasonable
accommodations" to such employees to enable them
to perform essential job functions, with various
exceptions. To further its stated purpose "to
reinstate a broad scope of protection" by
expanding the definition of the term "disability",
the ADAAA directed the U.S. Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") to amend its
Regulations to reflect the changes made by the
ADAAA.
Read
more on our website.
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The
Effects of Davies
by
H. Dill Battle III &
Karin L.
Weingart
In the recent decision
of Davies v. Alcan Rolled Products, the
West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals continued
its recent trend of reviewing claims decisions
based on the medical management guidelines in W.
Va. C.S.R. § 85-20-1, et seq. ("Rule 20"). At
issue in Davies was the calculation of
permanent impairment for carpal tunnel syndrome
("CTS") claims.
Read
the full article on our website.
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Welcome
We
are very pleased to launch our inaugural
electronic newsletter, which we have titled
"SuperVision Today." As we have always prided
ourselves with pushing out new and exciting news
on the labor and employment front with timely
e-mail blasts, we have decided to enhance our
client communication and education with a regular,
quarterly e-newsletter. Our goal is to provide
insightful articles on the latest issues affecting
your workforce, supplementing our "SuperVision"
conferences that we regularly conduct throughout
our footprint in the Mid-Atlantic Inland
Basin.
Our
labor and employment group consists of more than
30 lawyers who strive to be your employment
counselor, your labor management partner and, if
needed, your trial lawyer. We hope this
e-newsletter will help you maintain a strong
workforce while assisting you in navigating
through complex, hot-topic legal issues. I invite
you to contact me directly with requests for
topics to be covered by our Spilman labor and
employment lawyers in this publication. We are
certainly pleased to be your strategic
partner.
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The
Employee Free Choice Act Lives
On:
A Regulatory End-Run
Around Congress
by Richard M. Wallace & Kevin L.
Carr
The Employee Free Choice Act
("EFCA"), the bill that would have altered the way
in which unions are allowed to organize workers,
was introduced in both chambers of the United
States Congress on March 10, 2009. Among other
things, EFCA (sometimes also known as the "card
check" bill) would have eliminated the
time-honored right to the secret ballot in union
elections, required employers to submit to binding
arbitration if a first contract could not be
reached (which would allow a third-party
arbitrator to dictate to an employer the pay and
benefits that must be provided to its employees
and the work rules applicable to employees), and
increased financial penalties and reporting
obligations only for employers. In short,
EFCA would have tilted the rules in favor of
unions and reduced employees' rights. As a result,
and after a backlash from the voting public,
Congress wisely decided to abandon its efforts to
pass EFCA. This legislative failure,
however, has not stopped organized labor interest
groups and the Obama administration from engaging
in a concerted effort to make an end-run around
Congress. Indeed, the administration (after
lobbying efforts by organized labor) is now
attempting to implement many of EFCA's provisions
through the regulatory and administrative
rule-making process.
Read the full article on our website.
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Labor
& Employment Team Member
King F.
Tower
King
leads the firm's Virginia labor and employment practice and
also assists in North Carolina matters. He has more than 15
years of experience in all areas of labor and employment law,
including employment litigation, labor-management relations,
and business counsel on employment policies and practices. He
has significant litigation experience in federal courts
throughout the U.S. and has taken cases to verdict for
employers in Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia and
Illinois.
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Please be aware
that this email publication is distributed with the
understanding that the author, publisher and distributor are
not rendering legal or other professional advice on specific
facts or matters and, accordingly, assume no liability
whatsoever in connection with its use.
Responsible Attorney: Eric W. Iskra
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