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While the labor laws on overtime pay at the federal level (and for most states) permit non-exempt salaried workers’ overtime pay to be calculated using the fluctuating-workweek method (aka Chinese Overtime), there are currently 7 states that prohibit or limit such pay schemes: Alaska, California, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Montana, and New Jersey. Rulings in

  The U.S. Department of Labor recently issued an opinion letter that clarifies an important question for employees who are paid a guaranteed weekly salary plus an hourly wage or other extra compensation, such as flat sums, bonuses, straight-time hourly, or even time-and-a-half. These often highly compensated workers are typically classified as “exempt” from the

  A judge in Texas recently handed a class of drilling rig workers a big win – agreeing that two types of bonuses should have been included when determining their overtime pay rate. This is yet another in a long line of cases in which oilfield workers have successfully pursued recovery of back overtime wages.

  When record amounts of unpaid back wages are recovered for employees, that’s a good thing – right? Or, is it proof that wage theft by employers has not only continued to occur, but now happens at an increasing rate…despite the administration’s efforts towards “compliance assistance” and the PAID program that allows employers to resolve

  According to the 9th Circuit (the federal appeals court for Alaska, Arizona, California, and Hawaii), the “80/20 rule” does apply – upholding the Labor Department regulations which state that employers may not reduce a tip-earning employee’s hourly pay below the minimum wage when that employee spends more than 20 percent of his or her