Effective January 1, 2020, Florida’s minimum wage rate will increase from $8.46 per hour to $8.56 per hour. The increase is calculated by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity and is based on the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for the South Region. Continue reading
Month: October 2019
San Antonio Approves New Paid Sick Leave Ordinance Effective December 1, 2019
Executive Summary: As we have mentioned in our previous Legal Alert, the effective date of San Antonio’s paid sick leave ordinance was delayed until December 1, 2019, by agreement after a lawsuit was filed against the city. At the time, the city indicated that one of the reasons for this agreed delay was so that the city could revise the ordinance. Continue reading
U.S. District Court Rules in Favor of Airline Flight Crew Employees on Paid Sick Leave Challenge
Executive Summary: On October 11, 2019, a federal judge for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington ruled that Washington state’s paid sick leave law does not violate the Constitution or federal preemption law, thereby guaranteeing sick leave benefits for airline flight crew employees based in Washington. Continue reading
California Appellate Court Applies Dynamex Retroactively
Introduction: For a little over a year, California employers and courts have been wrestling with the impact of Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court, 4 Cal.5th 903 (2018), which dramatically altered the independent contractor landscape in the Golden State last year. Dynamex upended a long-standing multi-factor test which had been applied to determine if a worker was an employee or an independent contractor, ushering in the new “ABC test.” One of the main unresolved questions left in the wake of Dynamex was whether the new “ABC test” applies retroactively. Continue reading
Department of Labor Deflates the 80/20 Rule & Inflates the Tip Pool
Executive Summary: On Monday, October 7, 2019, the Department of Labor (DOL) proposed a new 80/20 rule and tip pooling regulation. First, the proposed regulation, if finalized, will permit employers to take a tip credit regardless of the amount of non-tip generating work (such as cleaning tables or folding napkins) a tipped employee performs as long as it is performed contemporaneously with his/her tipped duties, or within a reasonable time immediately before or after performing tipped duties. Second, the proposed regulation eliminates some regulatory restrictions regarding tip pooling when the employer does not take a tip credit. If the proposed rule is finalized, employers who do not take a tip credit will be permitted to include “back-of-the-house” employees who usually do not receive tips (such as cooks and dishwashers) as part of a tip pool. Lastly, the existing rule prohibiting employers from keeping employees’ tips or participating in tip-pooling arrangements will remain. Continue reading
