The Soto Law Group, P.A.

LABOR & EMPLOYMENT PRACTICE GROUP Employers!  This is an important update to our previous newsletter concerning changes in the FLSA overtime regulations. The final version of the rule has been published! Here's what you need to know: The new rule was issued on May 18, 2016. As we stated in our last newsletter, this rule changes the FLSA regulations concerning exemptions from overtime pay for executive, administrative, professional, outside sales, and computer employees (cumulatively, "Workers").[ [1] ] Salaried Workers earning less than $913 dollars per week or $47,476 annually are now nonexempt and eligible for overtime pay. This salary threshold will increase every three years. The increase is based on the 40th percentile of the weekly earnings of full-time salaried workers in the lowest-wage Census region, which currently happens to be the South. Predictions for the first update, scheduled for January 1, 2020, est

LABOR & EMPLOYMENT PRACTICE GROUP EMPLOYERS! The time has come to prepare your business for upcoming changes in federal overtime regulations. Generally, the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) requires that most employees receive “overtime pay at time and one-half their regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek .” [1]   However, Sections 13(a)(1) and 13(a)(17) of the FLSA provide an exemption to this rule for the following employees: 1.     employees who are employed as bona fide executive, administrative, or professional employees; 2.      computer professionals; 3.      highly compensated individuals; and 4.      outside sales employees. In order to qualify, these employees must meet certain criteria for their job duties and be paid at least $455 per week or $23,600 annually. In March of 2014, President Obama issued an executive order directing the United States Department of Labor (“DOL”) to update these requirements due to concer

                                   This is the sixth installment in a ten-part series analyzing critical construction clauses.  This installment analyzes the “Pay If Paid” and “Pay When Paid” clauses. My first five articles can be found on our blog at   http://sotolawgroup.blogspot.com/ . A.       Overview and Background It is hard to understate the significance of the “Paid If Paid” provision (also known as the “Contingent Payment Provision”) and its less draconian counterpart, the “Pay When Paid” provision. The “Pay If Paid” Provision permits a general contractor to place the risk of an owner’s nonpayment upon its subcontractor notwithstanding the fact that the subcontractor fully performed its obligations and would be otherwise entitled to payment. A properly worded “Pay If Paid” provision can be a lifesaver for a general contractor and financially devastating to a subcontractor if the owner fails to issue payment. A “Pay When Paid” Provision, on the ot

Active Interference and The No Damage for Delay Clause             No Damage for Delay Clauses are designed to pass the risk of project delays and their costs to a specific party (generally the contractor). These clauses are recognized as valid and enforceable in the State of Florida. See McIntire v. Green Tree Communities, Inc., 318 So. 2d 197 (Fla 2 nd DCA 1975); Southern Gulf Util., Inc. v. Boca Ciega Sanitary Dist., 238 So. 2d 458, 459 (Fla. 2d Dist.Ct.App.1970) ; Pertun Constr. Co. v. Harvesters Group, Inc., 918 F.2d 915, 919 (11th Cir.1990) . These clauses can seem harsh when faced with the reality that delays on construction projects are very common. Because of this reality, Florida courts have created several exceptions to enforcement. Situations in which it would be unfair to bar recovery to contractors who have been delayed in completing their work through no fault of their own. These judicially created exceptions are: active interference, concealment and frau