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Recent Blog Posts
Are Unpaid Internships Legal?
As summer approaches, various companies will begin to consider the possibility of offering internships to college students and recent graduates in order to bolster their workforce.
In some cases, companies will choose to allow the work experience, and a letter of recommendation, to act as fair pay for the intern's time. However, several recent employment lawsuits across the country have brought about questioning in regards to whether or not unpaid internships are legal.
One of the most recent cases involved Hearst Corp., a New York firm that was facing a class-action lawsuit from a group of 3,000 unpaid interns. However, the court recently ruled that the group could not continue their class-action suit. Instead, they will have to file individual cases against the company. And while many interns feel this ruling is a major setback for intern employment rights, it does offer some legal protection for companies who choose to continue offering low pay or unpaid internships. Today, internships have become a near requirement for those college students hoping to land employment with a good firm after graduation. Unpaid internships are legal; however, if your company is concerned over potential lawsuits, there are several things you can do. To begin, consider offering recent graduates a competitive internship, for example, with the winner being offered a job at the end of their term. Also, establish a relationship with the local college that will allow interns to earn credit for the time they spend working. Ensuring that interns receive valuable job training and are treated well will also go a long way towards protecting your company.If your business is considering offering an internship this summer or in the future, speak with an attorney who understands employment law. Contact The Miller Law Firm, P.C.. today for a consultation. We can help you set up your internship program in a legal manner, and thus protect you from costly legal action later.
Understanding Wage Garnishment in Illinois
According to CreditCards.com, wage garnishment is a practice meant to cause a dent in a debtor's confidence and income by taking a percentage from the individual's paycheck each month. Credit card companies, in an attempt to recover unpaid credit card debt or dues, may engage in wage garnishing by taking monies out of an employee's paycheck. David Cherner, the former director of state government affairs for the Association of Credit and Collection Professionals International, told CreditCards.com that in most states, wage garnishment can only be initiated by a court order.
In Illinois, according to the Illinois State Legislature, wage garnishment may only be initiated if a debt is owed for more than 40 days and the individual has continued to default even after a notice has been served and warns the debtor that wage garnishment will ensue. The actual practice cannot begin in less than 20 days before this notice of intention has been served to the employee.
Providing Adequate Provision for Nursing Mothers: FLSA Section 7(r)
When the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was passed in 2010, it amended a portion of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to accommodate nursing mothers who return to work after the birth of their child. Failure to follow these new rules could result in serious small business employment litigation in Illinois and across the country.
Under the amended Section 7(r) of the FLSA, employers must provide a reasonable break time for nursing mothers to express their breast milk for up to a full year after their child's birth. The employee must be allowed to take these breaks every time they have the need to express their milk. Employees do not have to be compensated for these breaks, unless they fall during the employees' regular compensated break period. This requirement applies to all employers, though businesses with less than 50 employees can apply for an exemption if they can prove the requirements would cause undue hardship to the business. In addition to allowing for time to express the breast milk, employers must also provide a space other than the bathroom for the employee to use during this time. The space can be temporarily created or converted, or can simply be made available to the nursing mother when needed. This space must be free from co-worker intrusion and shielded from the view of both co-workers and clients. It must also be function. In general, employers will need to provide a seat for the employee and an outlet for the pump at a minimum. If you have an employee who is returning to work following childbirth and you are concerned about what will be required of your business under the law, or if you have been accused of violating any part of the FLSA, having a qualified attorney is important. Contact the experienced professionals at the Miller Law Firm, P.C. We have had experience with hundreds of Illinois FLSA cases and can help you ensure your business is protected.
Illinois Bill Proposes Change to Overtime Pay Eligibility
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Illinois Supreme Court Upholds Worker Misclassification Law
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Proposed Minimum Wage Increase may Be Difficult for Illinois Small Businesses
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Hiring Practices Could Mean Tax Credit for Small Businesses
Under Illinois employment law, businesses who hire certain groups of employees could earn big tax credits this year.
According to the Illinois Department of Employment Security, employers who participate in the Work Opportunity Tax Credit program could earn up to $9,600 in federal tax credits for hiring certain groups of employees:
- Up to $2,400 for short-term welfare recipients and ex-felons
- Up to $9,000 over two years for long-term public assistance recipients
- Up to $9,600 per veterans for profit employers or up to $6,240 for non-profit organizations.
In addition to these federal credits, Illinois employers can earn substantial state tax credits for hiring veterans, particularly those who served during Operation Desert Storm, Operation Enduring Freedom, or Operation Iraqi Freedom. This credit can be up to $5,000. Ten percent of the total earnings paid to every qualified veteran hired after January 1, 2010 can be applied to the credit, as long as the veteran worked at least 185 days during the tax year.
Cargill Meat Solutions Corp. Ground Up by U.S. Department of Labor for Discriminatory Employment Practices
Cargill Meat Solutions Corp., one of the largest privately-held companies in the world, has agreed to settle with the U.S. Department of Labor and pay $2.24 million for allegations of sex-based, race-based, and ethnicity-based discrimination in the company's hiring practices. The settlement will be paid to 2,959 applicants who were discriminated against at three meat-processing plants during the hiring process for production jobs between 2005 through 2009.
The meat-processing plant in Springdale, Arkansas discriminated against female applicants, the plant in Fort Morgan, Colorado affected female, Caucasian and Hispanic applicants, and the plant based in Beardstown, Illinois discriminated against African-American and Caucasian applicants. Cargill's Senior Vice President made a statement stating that Cargill does not employ discriminatory hiring practices, and that the reason for settlement was to avoid lengthy litigation and any cost or disruptions associated with the action. The settlement amount represents back wages and interest owed to the applicants affected and as part of the agreement, Cargill has agreed to provide 354 jobs to the affected applicants as positions open up within the plants.
Employment Law Settlements
This type of settlement, especially as applied to one of the largest, privately-held corporations in the world, represents a significant win in the employment discrimination field. Having a large corporation at the forefront of an employment discrimination scandal forces other major corporations to reassess the way that they hire potential applicants. The U.S. Department of Labor may want to use Cargill as an example, proving to similar, major corporations that they cannot discriminate just because they have a significant profit margin.
Fair Labor Standards Act Exemptions
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FSLA) establishes a minimum legal working age, a minimum hourly wage that must be paid, and requires the payment of overtime pay for any employee who works more than 40 hours in a work week. Employers who fail to satisfy these requirements and provisions may be subject to an FSLA lawsuit. However, some employees are exempt from both of these provisions.
Commonly used exemptions to the FSLA requirements include:
- Commissioned sales employees who earn more than half of their wages from commissions may be exempt from overtime. The employee must also average at least one-half times the established minimum wage for each hour worked.
- Computer professionals who earn at least $27.63 per hour are exempt from overtime.
Tech Positions Replacing Middle Management
With the end of the year around the corner, employers and employees alike are looking back through 2013 to identify trends that help them to look forward. According to US News and World Report, one of the biggest changes in employment and the job market as of late doesn't involve the number of jobs available, but the type of positions being offered. “A new study from the job-matching service TheLadders suggests… that once-ubiquitous middle-management jobs—with titles like “manager” and “director”—are being replaced by skill-specific positions in the technology sector,” according to US News and World Report.
This arguably echoes similar sociological debates about the decline of the middle class and available positions that retain a certain degree of responsibility but that aren't necessarily high-stress. TheLadders study found that between 2008 and 2013, available job titles that contained the word “manager” had a 25 percent less growth rate than the average growth of job titles on average. “The growth rate of titles containing the word “director” is 50 percent lower,” reports US News and World Report. Of the top 10 percent of growing job titles, less than 2 percent were managerial or directorial positions.
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