In Helix Energy Sols. Grp., Inc. v. Hewitt, 143 S. Ct. 677 (2023), the Supreme Court held that the salary-basis test for certain exemptions to the Fair Labor Standards Act is not met when the employee at issue is paid a day rate, even when the day rate exceeds the required minimum weekly salary level. More specifically, the...Read More

In Harbourt v. PPE Casino Resorts Maryland, LLC, 820 F.3d 655 (4th Cir. 2016) the Fourth Circuit held that under the Fair Labor Standards Act, compensable “work,” for which the FLSA requires employers to pay at least minimum wage, broadly encompasses physical or mental exertion, whether burdensome or not, controlled or required by the employer primarily for its...Read More

In Cruz v. Maypa, 773 F.3d 138 (4th Cir. 2014), the Fourth Circuit held that the limitations period for claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act was equitably tolled because the employer failed to post the required notice explaining workers’ rights under the FLSA. The decision is important because it means an employer who fails to post the...Read More

In Conner v. Cleveland County, N. Carolina, 22 F.4th 412 (4th Cir. 2022), the Fourth Circuit held that the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) allow claims for “overtime gap time.” Overtime gap time refers to a particular type of wage-payment scheme, aimed at making employees subsidize their own overtime wages, where...Read More

In United States v. Darby, 312 U.S. 100, 61 S. Ct. 451 (1941), the Supreme Court held that Congress had power under the Commerce Clause of the Constitution to enact the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). The Court held that the Commerce Clause permitted Congress, through the FLSA, to regulate the working conditions of employers...Read More

In Perez v. Mortgage Bankers Ass’n, 575 U.S. 92, 135 S. Ct. 1199 (2015), the Supreme Court held that an agency, like the Department of Labor, is not required to use notice-and-comment procedures when it wishes to issue a new interpretation of a regulation that deviates significantly from one the agency has previously adopted. The...Read More

In Mitchell v. Kentucky Finance Co., 359 U.S. 290 (1959) the Supreme Court held that the business of making personal loans to individuals does not constitute “sales of . . . services” by a “retail or service establishment,” within the meaning of the retail and service establishment exemption to the Fair Labor Standards Act. This...Read More

In Hoffmann-La Roche v. Sperling, 493 U.S. 165 (1989), the Supreme Court held that under the collective action provision of the Fair Labor Standards Act, District Courts have discretion in Age Discrimination in Employment Act cases to facilitate judicial notice to potential plaintiffs with similar claims, giving them the opportunity to join the case. To...Read More

The Virginia General Contractor Wage Law (“VGCWL”) makes general contractors on construction jobs, under certain circumstances, liable for wages owed to the employees of the general’s subcontractors.Read More

An analysis of FLSA's professional employee exemption by experienced Charlottesville attorney Tim Coffield. Find out how an FLSA exemption impacts you!Read More