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Although many employees have heard of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), some may not understand the specific rights provided by this important federal legislation. The FMLA entitles eligible employees of covered employers to take twelve weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for certain personal and family medical reasons. These include the birth and care of a child, a serious health condition of an employee's family member, and a health condition that significantly affects job performance. Invariably, one of the most common questions asked by employees is: "What family members co
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The attorneys at Morgan & Morgan have filed a putative class action lawsuit alleging that American Managed Care, LLC violated the WARN Act. The WARN Act protects employees and their families by requiring covered employers with at least 100 workers to provide 60 days advanced notice of mass layoffs and plant closings. To view the complaint, please click here.
The suit stems from the recent layoffs at Universal Health Care, a St. Petersburg Medicare insurer which operates as Universal Health Care, but w
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Norfolk Southern Railway Co. has been ordered by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to pay $802,168 after being found to have terminated multiple employees for reporting workplace injuries. At least three workers were fired for their reporting, a violation of the whistleblower protection provisions of the Federal Railroad Safety Act. The violations occurred in Greenville, South Carolina; Nashville, Tennessee; and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
In t
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Florida lawmakers, businesses, and low-wage workers have begun to work together to create a statewide law setting procedures for wage theft disputes. According to the Miami Herald, this new unlikely cooperation between traditional opponents is because there was the conception that different Florida counties and cities were creating a patchwork of wage theft laws by formulating different statutes on the subject. This discussion arose when Miami-Dade County developed its own wage theft ordinance and then Palm Beach County started a process to do the same.
Karen Woodall, an advocate fo
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In a landmark decision certain to have far reaching implications in the private sector, the National Labor Relations Board (henceforth, NLRB) ruled last week in D.R. Horton, Inc. and Michael Cuda that employers may not prohibit workers from filing work-related class actions. The decision essentially invalidates any employment agreement which would require workers to pursue claims individually through arbitration. Prior to the labor board’s findings, these sorts of agreements were some of the most widely administered by companies across the United States. However, by the NLRB’s d
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Subway and Burger King are the first of a group of food companies being sued by a group of sixteen farmworkers looking for back pay, according to the Washington Post. These workers claim they are owed back pay dating back to 2008, when the fast food companies signed a deal with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers to raise the pay of tomato pickers in Florida. Under this deal, the food companies would pay the growers o
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It has become an increasingly common practice for employers to include “arbitration clauses” in employee contracts. Often, workers are not informed that such an agreement waives their legal right to sue their employer, join a class action lawsuit, or file an appeal. You may have signed a contract effectively giving up your rights and not even known it.
Arbitration is a method of alternative dispute resolution, and a favorite among employers for several reasons. An arbitrator is more costly than a judge, and if an employee cannot afford to pay the fee, he or s
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Greetings all:
We often get inquiries from our clients as to whether they should pursue a claim for wages because they fear retaliation by their employer. Remember that the law protects employees from retaliation for pursuing their rights and allows for additional damages and attorneys fees if you are demoted, receive a pay cut, are fired, etc. for pursuing such claims. The courts have been split as to whether an employee's informal inquiry regarding wages triggers protection from retaliation. Well, the Supreme Court is now weighing in. The Court will decide the following question
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I am constantly on the internet researching and reading about all things wage and hour/employment law related. What I have come to see is that nearly every website and blog spouts out the same homogenous information leaving the consumer a/k/a client (that's you) with the difficult decision of trying to determine which lawyer to contact, which information to consider, what blog to read, etc. Obviously, I am biased and would champion our website and services. But, all personal bias aside, here is the best advice I can give you to wade through the information on the web- look for information a
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Greetings clients, friends, followers, and newbies. I wanted to take a moment to discuss an important issue in the world of wage and hour law. I call it the "victim's mentality." We often speak with potential clients whose rights have been violated time and again by their employer. While most of these clients decide to protect their rights and pursue their wages from their employers, there is a large pocket of employees who, despite these violations, fear their employer- even when they no longer work there. I always say this to these clients- "picture yourself walking down th
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Greetings again American Workers-
A story with a purpose-
I was eating at a national chain restaurant this past weekend with my lovely wife and struck up a conversation with our server. She was complaining that this was her third job in the last year at a restaurant where they charged her for patrons who walked out on a tab without paying. She also told me that she was often required to come to work prior to her shift to prepare for the day and assist in the kitchen but was not being paid for that time. This is the common/classic example of "off the clock work."<
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Boy is it cold here in Florida! Happy new year to all of you and hope you are settling back in to work for what we hope will be a good year for all of you.
I wanted to discuss with you a recent trend we have been seeing with many clients across the board in all industries. When employers fire people or during the employment period, employers often offer employees a severance and make them sign a waiver or release of all claims in exchange for the payment.
Many clients ask us whether if they sign the waiver/release or accept the money, they cannot later pursue their claims
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Greetings again:
As 2009 continues to wind down, I continue to spend time looking at the most common industries that repeatedly violated the wage and hour laws during these unusual economic times. What I discovered, was that we saw a large number of claims arise in the construction, financial services, and insurance industries. Specifically, we assisted thousands of construction managers, builders, laborers, and carpenters who, due to the downturn in the homebuilding markets, had their wages cut, did not receive their properly due overtime, and/or who were fired on the verge of co
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Our department as a whole has seen certain trends develop during these hard economic times- In recognition of these trends, we currently are pursuing numerous claims for, among others, the following issues:
Greetings:
My name is Richard Celler and I am the department head of Morgan and Morgan's national Labor and Employment Department. Needless to say, the economy over the past 18 months has created absolute havoc, uncertainty, and despair for millions of workers around the country- many of whom have seen their jobs get eliminated, wages get cut, and had "tightening of the employers' belts" at the employees' expense. In light of these circumstances, the number of employers violating the fundamental wage and employment laws of this country have increased resulting in substanti
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