With the calendar having turned to 2022, it’s time to look into the crystal ball and make a number of predictions for the yr forward associated to the wage and hour world.
Class and Collective Actions Regarding Hiring and Retention Incentives Will Improve
In 2021, many employers throughout the nation skilled starkly elevated competitors for workforce expertise. Whether or not it was convincing present workers to not take part within the “Nice Resignation” or persuading candidates with a number of job choices to hitch the house crew, corporations usually relied on monetary bonuses to curry employment favor. The elevated use of those monetary incentives might result in elevated class and collective motion lawsuits concerning these funds. Particularly, elevated wage and hour litigation exercise might tackle whether or not such enticements had been nondiscretionary bonuses that wanted to be included within the additional time price calculations for nonexempt workers. Employers might wish to think about auditing new varieties of funds they revamped the previous yr for compliance with wage and hour regulation necessities.
Extra Employers Will Obtain Requests for Compensation in Cryptocurrency
In some ways, 2021 might be described because the yr of cryptocurrencies. Two of probably the most well-known cryptocurrencies reached all-time excessive values. A number of celebrities started endorsing cryptocurrencies. Newly elected mayors in Miami and New York Metropolis even promoted taking paychecks in cryptocurrency. All of those headlines are certain to draw the eye of workers and result in questions on potential cryptocurrency compensation. Employers that think about entertaining such inquiries might wish to think about whether or not and the way any funds could also be regulated by the Honest Labor Requirements Act (FLSA) or state legal guidelines. For instance, a number of states require wages to be paid in United States forex, which may restrict an employer’s capability to pay in cryptocurrency. Wage and hour legal guidelines and rules will probably be key as to whether an employer can present what could also be a extremely sought worker incentive in 2022.
Fewer Multistate Collective Actions
Simply over midway via 2021, the Sixth Circuit Courtroom of Appeals issued a decision that considerably restricted what started as a multistate collective motion lawsuit. The courtroom held {that a} federal courtroom can not train private jurisdiction over a company defendant with respect to the claims of nonresident opt-in plaintiffs who be a part of an FLSA collective motion when the claims will not be related to the defendant’s actions within the discussion board state. A day later, the Eighth Circuit Courtroom of Appeals equally excluded collective motion claims with no connection to the state wherein the motion was filed. Since then, a number of district courts outdoors the Sixth and Eighth circuits have adopted the reasoning of those choices. This development might proceed with multistate employers citing these choices to slim the potential checklist of putative plaintiffs in collective actions.
