Emergency pay is not one of the items excluded from the regular rate of pay and, therefore, as DOL opined, it must be included in the overtime formula and thus acts to boost up the amount of overtime premium pay due the worker.
Read MoreThe Wage and Hour Division recently opined that a restaurant can claim a tip credit for oyster shuckers who work “front-of-house” at an oyster bar because they are among the kinds of employees who regularly and customarily receive tips.
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It looks like a tale of two cities for the government contracting community here in 2025. A few big weapons producers and aerospace contractors, on one side, are very prosperous and optimistic, and everyone else fighting for a smaller pile of scraps and keeping their lips buttoned down.
Read MoreGovernment service contractors need to exercise restraint and avoid bidding on work involving unionized contractors with insolvent union pension plans. They are a trap for the unwary.
Read More“Freddy’s back!” Is it an nightmare on Elm Street? Once again DOL has instituted a PAID program for voluntary self-audit and payment of FLSA and FMLA errors. But think carefully before you dive in.
Read MoreThis back-to-basics blog just touches on a few of the many possible issues that come up under the SCA section 4(c) successor contractor rule. That rule can require successor contractor to pay not less than the wages and fringes set forth in the predecessor’s collective bargaining agreement. It is a very complex area of the law, and it is one place where the engagement of competent SCA counsel may aid in dealing with disputes.
Read MoreDOL is issuing so-called non-standard Service Contract Act (“SCA”) wage determinations (“WDs”) using a numbering scheme which deceives contractors and results in inadvertent violations of the rules regarding furnishing of health & welfare (“H&W”) benefits.
Read MoreThe Trump Administration just revoked a Biden-era Executive Order that, among many other things, led to a ban on noncompete clauses in employment agreements. A Texas injunction rendered the FTC’s regulation a dead letter. President Trump’s order just made that dead letter deader.
Read MoreAre workers who perform testing, adjusting and balancing (“TAB “) work on heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (“HVAC”) systems “laborers or mechanics” to whom Davis-Bacon requirements may be applicable? Under what circumstances is TAB work on HVAC systems part of the construction, alteration, and/or repair on a DBA-covered project, and hence subject to DBA labor standards?
Read MoreExperienced federal contractors know (or better know) that the deadlines for filing a protest at the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) are short and are strictly enforced. To minimize the risk of an untimely protest, contractors must consider whether the issuance of the written debriefing means that the debriefing has concluded. Of course, the answer is “it depends.”
Read MoreMy candidate for the most important law enacted by Congress is the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). This law had perhaps the greatest economic impact upon the most Americans of any legislation. And its legacy endures even today, as it makes an appearance in the so-called One Big Beautiful Tax Bill as the instrument to partially deliver Trump’s promised no tax on overtime.
Read MoreThis blog goes back-to-basics explains the origin of and requirements to set up a so-called “Belo plan” for overtime compensation. Belo plans are a form of guaranteed overtime compensation. Failed Belo plans, which don’t meet the legal requirements, are still guaranteed fixed salaries for the scheduled hour paid, and thus may be eligible for half-time coefficient premium treatment.
Read MoreOn July 7, 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) Wage and Hour Division (“WHD”) issued its annual All Agency Memorandum (“AAM”) that sets the health and welfare (“H&W”) fringe benefit rates for Service Contract Act (“SCA”) covered contracts. The update went into effect upon its issuance and has been incorporated into DOL Wage Determinations (“WDs”).
Read MoreHow often employers must run their payroll for federal government contract work is dependent on the contract terms and where you are performing the work. The requirement usually varies from weekly to monthly, but employers need to review both your contract and state and local wage laws and regulations. The answer is that “it depends.”
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This is a blog about the death of my childhood friend, Thomas Kurihara, and the bonds we forged by playing poker together over many years.
Read MoreThe Trump Administration announced on June 25, 2025, that investigators of the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) no longer will be authorized to seek the payment of liquidated damages for Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) violations during the course of prelitigation investigations. This policy is the latest development in the Administration’s roll-back of wage and hour policies implemented by the Biden Administration.
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My recent real estate interest has been a brewing controversy involving Wandesforde’s Dock, an unusual floating home community situated on Lake Union in Seattle, WA. This blog covers the personal story of my interest in real estate and my sister’s purchase of a floating home at 2037 Fairview Ave E, Unit # B, Seattle, WA 98102.
Read MoreIf you thought President Biden’s Executive Order mandating the use of Project Labor Agreements was dying on the vine, think again. The Office of Management and Budget just told federal agencies that Biden’s Executive Order remains in effect. Is this the final word? Probably not.
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The Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act (“PCA”) is perhaps the least known and understood of the wage and hour laws. This blog examines the lives of the two legislative sponsors for which the Act is eponymously named — Senator David I. Walsh and Representative Arthur D. Healey.
Read MoreThe Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division is relaunching its opinion letter program. While these opinion letters are aimed at the broader private sector, they’re particularly valuable for government contractors because compliance with basic wage and hour law is a cornerstone for fulfilling their prevailing wage obligations.
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