Wage and Hour Division Issues Interpretation Regarding Loan Officers

By Edwin S. Hopson

In March, 2010, the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor announced that it would periodically issue “Administrator Interpretations” of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) in order to clarify and interpret statutory or regulatory issues that affect broad cross sections of the economy.  Previously, the Administrator would from time to time respond to requests for opinions involving specific employer fact patterns and issue analytical opinion letters which were then made public.  In its press release, the Division indicated that it would no longer issue such letters other than to respond with information about applicable statutes, regulations, etc.

 In the first Administrator Interpretation, No. 2010-1, the Deputy Administrator, Nancy Leppink, dealt with the administrative exemption under Section 13(a)(1) of FLSA and whether it could be applied to employees who perform the typical job duties of a mortgage loan officer so as to exempt them from FLSA’s overtime pay requirements.

 The ultimate conclusion reached in the Administrator Interpretation was that such persons could not qualify as bona fide administrative employees exempt from the overtime requirements under Section 13(a)(1).

 

E-Verify, I-9, and No-Match: The Obama Approach

By Glen Krebs

I recently participated in an American Bar Association Tele-Seminar titled, “We Are a Nation of Immigrants . . . Or Are We?  The Obama Immigration Agenda So Far.”  The seminar covered E-verify, I-9 completion, and No-Match letters.  It also touched on perceived and stated enforcement priorities of the administration and 287(g).

The general consensus among the presenters was that the Obama Administration is increasing enforcement against employers in an attempt to appear “tough” on immigration.  It is supposed that this will give them more credibility during the upcoming debate on Comprehensive Immigration Reform.

Congress May Close Independent Contractor/Employee Loophole

By LaToi Mayo

The Taxpayer Responsibility, Accountability, and Consistency Act of 2009 (H.R. 3408), a bill seeking to remove a loophole allowing employers to bypass the Internal Revenue Service’s test of whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor, was reintroduced in the House on July 30, 2009, by Representative Jim McDermott (D-WASH).  The bill will make it more difficult for employers to avoid employment tax liability if they have misclassified a worker as an independent contractor and, more importantly, significantly increase employer penalties in the event of misclassification.