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A McDonald’s franchise in Oakland, California recently settled a lawsuit brought by workers claiming it failed to take adequate COVID-19 precautions during the pandemic.

On July 30, 2021, the Department of Labor officially withdrew the Trump-era Joint Employer Final Rule, which made it more difficult for employees illegally denied proper minimum wage and overtime compensation to establish that they were jointly employed by more than one employer.

The new Virginia Overtime Wage Act (“VOWA”), which went into effect on July 1, 2021, may catch some Virginia car dealerships off guard. As car dealership employees buckle down for the upcoming Labor Day sales crunch, many will find themselves newly entitled to overtime pay for their work.

On August 5, 2021, the Honorable U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick fully denied the City’s attempt to overturn the February 5, 2020 $17.7 million judgment in favor of 2,519 EMTs and Paramedics employed by the City of New York and the FDNY in an action brought pursuant to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

Earlier this month, Connecticut passed an act prohibiting employers with at least three employees from inquiring into the age of prospective employees. The new law goes into effect on October 1, 2021.

On July 22, 2021, a Magistrate Judge for the United States District Court, Southern District of New York approved a $429,901.18 settlement resolving the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) claims of four individuals who worked or work for the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) as Motor Vehicle Operators (MVOs) and City Laborers.

On July 8, 2021, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed three new laws which increase the penalties, fines, and litigation risks for employers who unlawfully misclassify workers as independent contractors, rather than as employees.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court stopped Amazon’s practice of forcing its workers to wait, unpaid, as they undergo security screenings for their employer’s benefit in a landmark decision issued on July 21, 2021. Heimbach et al v. Amazon.com, Inc., et al, No. 43 EAP 2019 (Pa. July 21, 2021).

In Sanchez v. Gold Standard Enterprise, Inc., an employee alleges that his employer, Binny’s Beverage Depot, paid him and other employees extra money during the COVID-19 pandemic, but failed to include that money in the their “regular rate” for purposes of calculating overtime, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

On July 17, the Arlington County Board unanimously passed an ordinance authorizing collective bargaining, becoming the second municipality in the commonwealth to do so, following Alexandria in April.