On April 2, 2018, the United States Supreme Court issued a decision on the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA") exemption that provides the FLSA's overtime pay requirement does not apply to any salesmen, partsmen, or mechanics primarily engaged in selling or servicing...
PLDO Law Blog
Employment Law
PRIOR SALARY HISTORY MAY NOT ALWAYS BE LAWFUL BASIS TO SET PAY
The Equal Pay Act provides that men and women should receive equal pay for equal work. In a recent case, Rizo v. Yovino, No. 16-15372 (Apr. 9, 2018), the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that an employer cannot justify a wage difference...
WORKPLACE SEXUAL HARASSMENT: A PARADIGM SHIFT?
With the seemingly daily news reports of sexual harassment scandals, business owners and investors are starting to realize an inconvenient fact: leaving the problem of workplace sexual harassment to the human resources department or middle-managers may no longer be...
Intern or Employee? Second Circuit Court of Appeals Weighed 7 Considerations In Recent Ruling
A very recent federal case highlights the rules of the road when employers utilize interns. Wang v. Hearst Corp., No. 16-3302, (2d Cir. Dec. 8, 2017). The case was brought by a group of unpaid interns that participated in a for-credit internship program that Hearst...
HOW TO LEGALLY CHANGE OR REVOKE A WILL IN RHODE ISLAND
A last will and testament is a legal document that states your final wishes for your assets and estate. Commonly, the will you originally create will need to be amended or modified as life circumstances change. For example, births, marriages, divorces, and deaths...
WHAT IS A SUBCHAPTER V BANKRUPTCY PROCEEDING? WHY MORE BUSINESSES SHOULD CONSIDER FILING
On August 23, 2019, the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 (“SBRA”) was signed into law and became effective on February 19, 2020, which added Subchapter V to Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. Subchapter V is a relatively new and underused avenue...
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN THE HIRING PROCESS: EMPLOYERS BEWARE
The rapid rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the workplace is outpacing our ability to keep up with it. For example, companies are struggling whether and how to allow employees to use ChatGPT at work given the numerous privacy and security risks posed by this new...
FLORIDA CANNABIS LAWS UPDATE
While Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has made clear his opposition to legalizing recreational cannabis use in Florida, trends certainly seem like they are going in that direction. For example, in April, the state doubled the number of licenses available to cultivators...
COMPREHENSIVE CHANGES TO LAND USE AND ZONING LAWS
As part of the 2023 legislative session, the Rhode Island General Assembly passed numerous laws, all with varying degrees of impact on zoning and land use issues. One such bill changes the standard by which municipal zoning boards judge applications for a dimensional...
