The Soto Law Group, P.A.

LABOR & EMPLOYMENT PRACTICE GROUP HOLIDAY PAY – IS IT A RIGHT OR A PRIVILEGE?    Employees and employers alike often share the same misunderstanding that everyone is entitled by law to receive time off for nationally recognized holidays. However, the reality may surprise you: there is no federal law requiring private employers to provide time off (paid or unpaid) to employees for nationally recognized holidays or on any other days . Additionally, no federal law requires employers to pay non-exempt* employees (whether hourly or salaried) for holidays on which they are not required to work.    If an employee is required to work on a holiday, there is nothing in federal or state law mandating employers to pay extra for working on that holiday. Hours worked on holidays are treated like hours worked on any other day of the week except when a non-exempt employee works overtime hours on that holiday. In the event a non-exempt employee will be working overtim...

LABOR & EMPLOYMENT  PRACTICE GROUP OVERTIME ALERT ! PROPOSED OVERTIME EXPANSION RULE COULD AFFECT MILLIONS    The Department of Labor (DOL) has announced a proposed change to the overtime rules that would extend overtime protections to almost 5 million workers in its first year. This would increase the percentage of the nation’s salaried workforce eligible for overtime from 8 percent to 40 percent. Currently, the salary threshold for the white-collar overtime exemption is $23,660 annually ($455 per week). Under the proposed rule, the salary threshold would increase to $50,440 annually ($970 per week). The DOL intends to increase the amount annually to keep up with inflation but business leaders and HR professionals are concerned about employers’ ability to absorb such a drastic change in such a short amount of time and the impact it will have on already complicated compensation regulations. Specifically, it is believed this change will disproportionately...