Articles Posted in Uncategorized

By Lane V. Erickson, Attorney

The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) sets minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and youth employment standards for employment subject to its provisions. Unless exempt, covered employees must be paid at least the minimum wage and not less than one and one-half times their regular rates of pay for overtime hours worked. To compute which employees are entitled to receive these benefits, every covered employer must keep certain records for each non-exempt worker.

THE SPECIFIC RECORDS TO BE KEPT

By Lane V. Erickson, Attorney

While the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) specifies minimum wage, overtime hours and child labor laws, it leaves to each of the individual states the responsibility of creating and enforcing the laws associated with basic wage and hour compliance. In other words, states are left with the responsibility of legislating and creating laws dealing with how and when an employee is paid and the procedures and processes of what an employee can do when they are not properly paid. Idaho has done this by enacting Title 44 of the Idaho Code which contains statutes dealing with various ware and hour issues such as: minimum wage, hours worked and child labor laws.

Idaho has also enacted Idaho Code §§ 45-601 et seq., concerning an employee’s claim for wages and the processes and procedures an employee can use to seek to obtain their wages from the employer.

By Lane V. Erickson, Attorney

Most employees and employers have heard of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) but most people don’t understand what it is or how it works. In summary, the FMLA provides certain employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year. What this means is that if an employee qualifies under the FMLA, they can be absent from their job with an assurance that their job will still be there for them when they return. Essentially, it is a limitation on the almost ever present “at will” law which says that an employer can terminate an employee’s employment at any time for any reason, so long as it is not for an illegal reason.

The FMLA was created to protect and help employees balance their health, work and family responsibilities. 　he FMLA allows employees to take unpaid leave for certain family and medical reasons.

By Lane V. Erickson, Attorney

During my work as an employment law attorney I often have employers ask whether the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) applies to those employees they have who receive and are paid through tips. The purpose of this post is to identify and describe the requirements of the FLSA to employees who receive tips.

According to the United State Department of Labor,

By Lane V. Erickson, attorney

As an employment law attorney, my clients often ask questions related to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Most recently, I seem to be getting many questions about whether breaks are required to be given to employees. The purpose of this blog is to provide a short summary of what the law requires with regards to providing breaks to employees.

Currently, federal law does not require lunch or coffee breaks to be given to employees. Like most other benefits provided by employers, there is no specific requirement that they be given. Many employers offer these type of breaks to their employees though as a benefit and as a way of enticing their employees to remain employed with the employer. Imagine a prospective employee evaluating two different job opportunities and seeing that one job does not offer any type of breaks including a lunch break during the work day. Under this circumstance it is fairly easy to see which job it is likely the employee would take. Employers know that in order to entice prospective employees and to keep current employees happy, these types of benefits must be provided.

By Lane V. Erickson, attorney

Nearly everyone with a hand in employment law is familiar that a change to the Fair Labor Standards Act will take place the end of this year which will have an impact on who qualifies to earn overtime pay. This change is known as the “Final Rule”. The Final Rule focuses primarily on updating the salary and compensation levels needed for workers to be exempt from overtime pay.

SUMMARY OF CHANGES

By Lane V. Erickson, Attorney

Written employment contracts come in all shapes, sizes and forms. Some even have the unambiguous words “Employment Contract” typed in bold words at the top of the first page. But not all do. 　Under Idaho law there is no magic form that in and of itself is the only form that an employment contract must be in. For this reason, sometimes an employment contract exists and no one even knows that it does. Let’s start with the easiest of all, the document that has the title “Employment Contract.” In Idaho this document is rare and elusive, but it does actually exist. In my experience it is most often found in the realm of professional work.

E-mails, letters and other miscellaneous written documents can also create an employment contract. This occurs in Idaho more often that you might think and usually occurs as the parties are simply discussing the creation of a new employment relationship. Nevertheless, if mutual promises and assent occur, a written employment contract may exist. Usually this type of an employment contract doesn’t provide much more than the start date, the responsibilities and the salary/wage. There typically isn’t any information on the term of the contract or how it can be terminated. When this is the case, the employer’s ability to discipline or terminate an employee is simply left up to the employer, which is the case when no employment contract exists.

By Lane V. Erickson, Attorney

Generally speaking, in Idaho, there are few statutory limitations for disciplining an employee for off-duty misconduct worth mentioning. The only one worth mentioning is contained in the Idaho Civil Service Act (See I.C. §§ 50-1601 et seq.)

Pursuant to the Civil Service Act, each city council that creates a civil service system has to adopt a civil service ordinance that describes the department or employees that will be subject to the Act. 　In most instances, civil service employees include police and firemen.

By Lane V. Erickson, Attorney

Opening scene from the movie Swordfish:

STANLEY (Referring to the changes to the movie Dog Day Afternoon, Gabriel just suggested) You know, this movie of yours, I don’t think it would have worked.

By Lane V. Erickson, Attorney