Bureau Basics
Cases in which an employee has not been adequately compensated for the work she has performed during the course of an employment relationship
What are wage and hour cases?
Two of the most common defenses used by employers
What are 1) client is an independent contractor and not an employee or 2) statute of limitations?
Minimum wage in Massachusetts
What is $12.75/hour?
Minimum wage of a tipped employee
What is the employee must still be paid the minimum $12.75/hour when tips are included?
Additionally, the employee must be informed of this law. If employees make less than minimum wage with tips included, employers must compensate so that employees receive minimum wage per shift, not "per pay period."
These two limitations apply to wage and hour clients just as they apply to family and housing clients
What are geographic and financial eligibility constraints?
List at least 3 advantages and 3 disadvantages of bringing a case in small claims court
*Bonus for 100 points: Advantages and disadvantages of bringing a case in state court? Federal court?
Advantages:
• Can file any claim less than $7,000 in MA small claims court
• Lower filing fee
• Cases move relatively quickly and are relatively informal
• Can recover treble damages and attorney's fees just like in state court
Disadvantages:
• No right of appeal and no right to a jury trial
• Most cases that we accept have potential damages over $7,000
• The process, while informal, is different than what we are used to in state court proceedings
• Cases can be handled by other organizations or pro se litigants, so our resources might be better used elsewhere
• An employer is unlikely to change her policies towards other employees as a result of a small claims loss
How overtime pay is calculated
What is 1.5 times the hourly pay?
Elements of "individual coverage" under the FLSA
*Half credit (100 points) for definition
*Full credit (200 points) for definition and at least 2 examples of plaintiffs included in this definition
What is a plaintiff is individually covered if they are, themselves, involved in interstate commerce. The FLSA classifies these individuals as “engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce."
Examples are broad and include:
• Coverage for individuals who produce or work on goods that will enter the stream of interstate commerce
• Individuals who “regularly make telephone calls to persons located in other states”
• Individuals who handle records of interstate transactions such as any transaction done through credit cards
• Individuals who travel to other states for their job. Most of our clients who fall outside of the state overtime law are covered here because most employers exempt from the state law routinely process credit card transactions.
This organization provides strategic workplace-related services to community based labor organizations in order to support and encourage low-wage immigrant workers to organize and directly impacts conditions at work and in their communities and families
What is Justice at Work?
Standards for when you can "pierce the corporate veil" and holding the parent company liable for the actions of a subcontractor (two standards, one under MA law and one under the FLSA)
What is:
In Massachusetts, “[a]n agency relationship is created when there is mutual consent, express or implied, that the agent is to act on behalf and for the benefit of the principal and subject to the principal’s control.”
Under the FLSA, you can also hold the parent company liable when they are acting as a “joint employer,” by cooperating with or directing the subsidiary company. In order to establish this relationship, you must show that the parent corporation had “actual authority” over the subsidiary by agreement, or had implied authority over the subsidiary.
Employers in Massachusetts must keep time files for at least this long
What is two years after the entry date of record?
Most common 5 languages many wage and hour clients speak
What are Portuguese, Spanish, Creole, Mandarin, and Cantonese?
Questions you should ask at the "intake stage" related to the client's employment.
*Half credit (200 points) for 5 correct questions
*Full credit (400 points) for 10 correct questions
• Where did the client work?
• What type of tasks was the client asked to do?
• What was the client’s actual schedule?
• How many days did she work? Was this constant?
• How many hours did she work? Was this constant?
• Did the client get meal breaks? Were they paid? How long were they?
• Did the client get vacation days? Were they paid?
• Did the employer keep track of the hours worked? If so, how?
• Did the client keep her own records or notes of hours worked? If so, does she have them?
• Did anyone else see the client working during those hours?
• Does the client still work there? If not, what happened?
• How many employees work for that employer?
These questions largely draw from “Checklist for Evaluating and Pursuing a Wage and Hour Case,” prepared by the Greater Boston Legal Services, Employment Law Unit, October 2009.
Factors to consider if somebody is an independent contractor
*List three factors to receive credit
What are the following factors that indicate an IK?
1) Is he free from employer control?
2) Does he perform work outside the normal course of the employer's business?
3) Is he routinely engaged in an independent business?
Some of the questions you should ask at the "intake stage" related to the client's "wage payments during employment."
*Half credit (200 points) for at least 5 questions
*Full credit (400 points) for at least 10 questions
• What was the client actually paid? How often?
• How much was the client actually paid?
• How was the client paid? Does the client have pay stubs?
• How often was the client paid? How many times was she paid?
• Who paid the client?
• How much does the client believe she is owed? How did she calculate this?
• Did the client complain about the wage issues to the employer? To other employees? How was the complaint made?
• If the client made a complaint, when did she make it? What was the response?
• Do other coworkers have similar wage issues?
• Does the employer have a history of wage or other employment law violations?
Correct court to file wage and hour claim
What is varies depending on the jurisdictional and venue issues of the case?
The elements you will want to include in a Complaint
*List all 9 elements to receive credit
What are:
1) Caption
2) Introduction
3) Jurisdiction and Venue
4) Parties
5) Statement of Facts
6) Causes of Action
7) Jury Demand
8) Prayer for Relief
9) Signature Block
The Massachusetts legislature expanded anti-retaliation protections to include these provisions
What is any employer who discharges or in any other manner discriminates against an employee because such employee has made a complaint to the AG or any other person, or assists the AG in any investigation under this chapter, or has instituted, or caused to be instituted any proceedings under or related to this chapter, or has testified or is about to testify in any such proceedings, shall have violated this section and shall be punished or shall be subject to civil citation or order as provided in § 27C?
Under the FLSA, what are the three elements of "enterprise coverage" for a business? What enterprises are automatically covered?
*Partial credit (300 points) for all three elements of "enterprise coverage" for a business
*Full credit (500 points) for the three elements and all enterprises automatically covered
What is a business, and thus its employees, is covered under the act if 1) there are at least two employees working for the organization, 2) is engaged in interstate commerce, and 3) there is an annual volume of sales or receipts equal to or greater than $500,000.
What is an enterprise is also automatically covered if it is 1) a federal government agency or organization, 2) a private or public hospital, or 3) a school.