Employer Law Blog

In 2004, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) updated its regulations addressing the various white collar overtime exemptions. In part, the DOL identified a number of employees which may be exempt under the “administrative exemption.” One of the specific examples listed in the regulations, 29 CFR § 541.203(b), were employees “in the financial services industry,” provided such employee did not have as his or her primary duty the selling of financial products.

On August 1, 2013, the Seventh Circuit did a great service to employment law practitioners in its jurisdiction when it provided a clear path for future summary judgment decisions. For decades, attorneys, plaintiffs, and employers have wrestled with the standard that they must overcome to have their Title VII discrimination cases decided without going to trial. Morgan v. SVT, LLC, 724 F.3d 990 (7th Cir. 2013).

The National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) started 2014 by capitulating on its efforts to force employers to post a notice at work which advised employees how they could form a union in order to collectively bargain. The NLRB announced this mandatory posting rule in August 2011, which would have required all private sector employers, whether unionized or not, to conspicuously post an 11x17 notice at work that outlined a number of employee rights under the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”). While the new posting obligation was originally scheduled to take effect in November 2011, a number of legal challenges were filed which delayed enforcement of this posting obligation.