SimplyHR | Employment & Labor Blog 

Employers called to submit comments in next 60 days

After months of internal debates and conferences, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released the long-anticipated proposed overtime rule today. If implemented, the proposed rule will significantly expand overtime pay for Americans under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

Hourly minimum rises to $10 on July 1, 2015, and will reach $13 in 2019

Chicago’s Minimum Wage Ordinance takes effect July 1, 2015, raising the minimum wage to $10 per hour for non-tipped employees and $5.45 for tipped employees.

It provides for subsequent raises each July 1 until the hourly minimum wage reaches $13 for non-tipped employees in 2019. The full text of the ordinance can be found here.

In a concise, seven-page decision, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of a Muslim woman, Samantha Elauf, denied employment by clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch (“Abercrombie”) after wearing a headscarf to her interview. The plaintiff was denied employment because her headscarf violated Abercrombie’s “Look Policy” which described the image Abercrombie sought to project within its stores.

The United States District Court for the Northern District of California recently dismissed a proposed class action alleging that LinkedIn was a Consumer Reporting Agency (“CSA”) under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) and violated the law when it provided an online feature that allows businesses to check applicants’ references on the site without the applicants’ knowledge. Sweet v. LinkedIn Corp., 5:14-cv-04531-PSG (N.D. Cal. April 14, 2015). The Plaintiffs unsuccessfully argued that the site’s “Reference Search” feature produced “Consumer Reports” (“CR”) under the law.