Archive for 2009
Minor Lifeguards and the FLSA
Summer isn’t yet in full swing, but it is already hot here in Atlanta. One of the great summer jobs is lifeguarding, but it is employment that brings with it potential hazards, especially for people under the age of 18. Lifeguards who are minors have their own classification under the Youth Employment provisions of the…
Read MorePending FLSA Legislation
Two major amendments to the Fair Labor Standards Act, one each by a Republican and a Democrat, could profoundly change several FLSA standards for overtime and minimum wages if and when they are passed into law. The first, introduced in February by Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R. WA), would allow comp time in the private…
Read MoreLayoffs and Age Discrimination
You got laid off or fired. You’re over the age of 50, or even 40. Younger people, some of whom you’ve trained, get to keep their jobs. Is it good business or age discrimination? ABC News is tracking this issue, and reports a great increase in age discrimination filings with the EEOC. It may be that…
Read MoreFast Food and Restaurant Workers and the FLSA
No matter what, people have to eat. And restaurant employees will always be there to serve them. There are over 7 million people employed in restaurants in the United States, a large percentage of whom work in fast food establishments. These jobs are often very transient, and the fact is that many fast food workers don’t realize…
Read MoreAgricultural Workers Under the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act
Most seasonal agricultural workers in Georgia and the rest of the country are covered under two separate labor laws-the Fair Labor Standards Act, and the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA). The two laws always need to be read together, as well as in conjunction with state laws, by a qualified employment lawyer, to…
Read MoreAgricultural Workers Under the FLSA
Farms are now in full swing all across Georgia, the South, and most of the rest of the country, employing thousands, if not millions, of farm workers. Most seasonal agricultural workers are covered under two separate federal labor laws – the Fair Labor Standards Act, and the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act. This…
Read MoreCall Center Workers and the FLSA
One of the notable parts of the modern world is that we seem to be constantly dealing with customer service representatives— in trying to buy something over the phone, pay or adjust a bill, trying to get your computer fixed, trying to book a flight, or just trying to get a little information on a…
Read MoreAdditions to FMLA Proposed in Congress
Two bills were recently introduced into the United States Congress that, if passed, would have an important effect on the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Taken together, they would both expand the current effect of the bill and roll back some of the restrictions that the previous administration’s had imposed on that law. Under the FMLA,…
Read MoreGenetic Testing in the Workplace? Meet GINA
In the 1997 sci-fi thriller Gattaca, virtually every job on earth was determined by a person’s genetic makeup. With the map of the human genome now available for download, science fiction may rapidly become science fact. But U.S. employment laws, to be phased in this month and next September, have stepped in to attempt to eliminate…
Read MoreDaycare Workers Under the FLSA
As if preschool and daycare workers in the Atlanta area don’t have enough problems on the job, from picking up every communicable bug out there to bites, tantrums, and parents who can be late and unappreciative, they can be among the types of employees who are routinely and illegally denied overtime pay. A typical work day…
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