Vigilant Blog

An oil company has agreed to pay $619,830 in back wages and overtime after investigators from the U.S. Department of Labor discovered the company failed to pay employees for mandatory pre-shift safety meetings that lasted 30 minutes. Because the time spent in these meetings benefitted the employer and was required, the employees should have been…

For employees living on the work premises, the employer should have a written agreement clarifying which of the employee’s hours are paid and which hours are unpaid; otherwise, all 24 hours per day may be compensable. A federal district court in California recently ruled that an employee of a residential facility for mentally disabled individuals…

President Obama issued a directive on March 13, 2014, to the U.S. Secretary of Labor to propose changes that would “modernize and streamline” the federal overtime rules. The intent is to shrink the “white collar” exemptions so more workers are eligible for overtime. This change will not happen overnight; the Department of Labor (DOL) will…

If drivers of commercial motor vehicles unexpectedly have to drive further or work longer than the short-haul exception allows, they won’t get in trouble for failing to take a 30-minute rest break on time as long as they take certain steps, said the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) in regulatory guidance. Most property-carrying commercial…

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled yesterday that an employer and union may agree that workers aren’t entitled to be paid for their time donning and doffing most protective safety gear at the beginning or end of the workday. Normally employers would have to pay for this time, if it is integral and indispensable to employees’…