The Department of Labor ("DOL") has formally endorsed a test used by several appellate courts in order to determine if an intern qualifies as an employee under the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA"), resolving the ambiguity between the DOL's enforcement position and the standards applied by the courts when reviewing claims for wages and overtime by individuals classified as interns.

The higher salary requirements under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) white collar exemptions that were set to take effect December 1, 2016, have been ruled invalid by a U.S. District Court in Texas. The same court preliminarily enjoined the implementation of these regulations on November 22, 2016. That decision is presently on appeal to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Although the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) requested that the district court delay its final decision on the merits of the case until after the court of appeals rules on the preliminary injunction, the district court declined to do so and issued its final decision on August 31, 2017.

As previously reported, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals is currently reviewing a challenge to the recent Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA") overtime changes. Previously, a Texas district court entered an injunction preventing the Department of Labor ("DOL") from implementing new regulations regarding the determination of who is exempt for overtime purposes. On June 30, the DOL filed its reply brief with the Court of Appeals, stating that although it was no longer defending the overtime rule set to become effective on Dec. 1, 2016, it believed the district court erred in concluding that the DOL had no authority to set white-collar salary limitations. Therefore, the DOL requested that the court rule in its favor on that issue and reject the district court’s issuance of the injunction, which, it argued, “would call into question any salary-level test adopted by the [DOL].”  

The U.S. Department of Labor has indicated that the department will move in a new, more employer-friendly direction, leaving many businesses feeling hopeful.

On June 7, 2017, the United States Department of Labor issued a press release rescinding the Department’s 2015 administrator’s interpretation memorandum regarding Independent Contractor classification under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and its 2016 administrator’s interpretation memorandum regarding joint employer status under the FLSA and the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Workers Protection Act.

As we explained in our March 24, 2016 alert, on March 23, 2016, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) finalized its “persuader” rule, which would have required that employers and legal consultants report all pay arrangements regarding attempts to persuade employees, either directly or indirectly, about their right to union representation or to bargain collectively. 

The rule significantly narrowed the “advice exception” to the DOL reporting requirements, which had long held that activity relating to an attorney’s drafting of letters, speeches or other communications to employees or an attorney’s legal review of employer communications was exempt from reporting. Under the new rule, any actions, conduct, or communications on behalf of an employer that could directly or indirectly persuade workers concerning their rights to organize and bargaining collectively would have been required to be reported by employers and the attorneys providing the advice.