The Employer’s Wage and Hour Advisor

Many Michigan companies rely on commissioned sales representatives to develop business and maintain client relationships. However, few know that Michigan has enacted specific laws to protect sales representatives when commission disputes arise. If not handled properly, such disputes can lead to substantial damages. In 1992, the Michigan Legislature passed the Sales Representative Commission Act (the “Act”), which, among other things, provides for treble damages (i.e., three times the actual amount of unpaid commissions, up to a maximum of $100,000.00) if a court determines a company has improperly withheld commissions. Because of these significant penalties, any business using a commission salesforce in Michigan should be aware of the Act’s requirements.

While the advent of artificial intelligence tools that produce large volumes of written, audiovisual, and graphic content may be a boon for many businesses, it also could dramatically change the landscape of wage and hour practices, including how the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) applies to U.S. workers. Among other things, large language models (LLMs) (a form of AI that is “trained” on volumes of data to effectively create certain kinds of output) could readily be used for a variety of office functions – fundamentally changing how office work is performed in the very near future. Previously, businesses have incrementally adopted AI for specific tasks, such as screening resumes or identifying key attributes in large volumes of documents. However, as AI progresses, it is posed to apply to a much broader swath of office and other work.

On May 19, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals set a new, substantially more demanding standard for employees to proceed on a collective basis in federal wage and hour lawsuits. The court’s decision in Clark v. A&L Home Care and Training Center will cause trial courts throughout Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee to approach wage and hour litigation very differently than previously.

Many employers remain unaware that employees making over six figures can still be entitled to overtime pay under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (the “FLSA”).  While there is a separate exemption for highly compensated employees (the “HCE exemption”), which reduces the showing that must be made under the “duties” portion of this exemption, a question arose as to whether the “salary basis test” still applied under the HCE exemption.  In Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. v. Hewitt, the U.S. Supreme Court recently resolved that question, holding that the salary basis test did indeed apply to the HCE exemption.  This ruling reinforces the importance of providing sufficient weekly or monthly guaranteed compensation to even some of the most well-paid employees, and not relying solely on commissions or another compensation structure unless some other exemption would apply.

Many employers already have personal experience with the costly two-step process for collective overtime or minimum wage claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). This process permits employees to commence expensive class-type lawsuits against an employer with almost no factual support for their ability to represent other employees. However, this soon may change. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals is scheduled to review the proper process for certifying FLSA collective actions, and potentially could reduce the significant costs employers now routinely endure when defending themselves in wage and hour litigation. The outcome of Clark v. A&L Home Care and Training Center, LLC could change the course of numerous wage and hour cases in Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee.

As always, the New Year came with a slew of new state wage and hour laws. Among other things, this year ushered in increased wages and continued trends in employee rights and protections.  Below are some of the new changes that employers should consider when implementing their employment practices.

The National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) recently adopted a new make-while relief model for possible remedies arising from unfair labor practice charges. Traditionally, damages in such labor disputes have been limited to back-pay and similar financial compensation.  However, the new decision expands “make-whole” relief to include consequential damages caused by the alleged unfair labor practice.

For decades courts have followed the de minimis rule when analyzing whether small fractions of time are compensable under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”).  However, recent court cases may be eroding the application of this de minimis rule. Employers should carefully assess whether the time employees spend on short tasks before they clock in for work, and after they punch out, must be considered compensable worktime under the FLSA and related laws.

On October 13, 2022, the United States Department of Labor (the “DOL”) published a new proposed rule to clarify who is an independent contractor under federal wage and hour law (the “Proposed Rule”). The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) protects workers against unfair employment practices by requiring employers to provide certain benefits and protections to employees. Independent contractors are not employees under the FLSA. As such, employers that misclassify workers as independent contractors may wrongfully deny workers of benefits and protections under the FLSA and other laws.

Posting a job without a pay scale in California?  Think again. 

California is the latest state poised to enact a pay transparency law that impacts not only information provided in job postings but also information provided to candidates upon request.  The existing pay transparency law prohibited employers from relying on salary history when making employment decisions (including compensation decisions) and required employers to provide applicants who completed an interview the pay scale (which is defined as “the salary or hourly wage range that the employer reasonably expects to pay for the position”) upon request. Under the new law, employers must provide all applicants that pay scale upon a reasonable request, regardless of whether they have been interviewed or not.