President Obama

New Defend Trade Secrets Act Requires Notice in Employee Agreements

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pillarsOn Wednesday, President Obama signed into law the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (DTSA). The DTSA sets a single national standard for trade secret protection and gives the option of bringing trade secret cases in federal court and provides for remedies (such as seizure and recovery of stolen trade secrets).  The DTSA also creates whistleblower protections for employees who disclose trade secrets to an attorney or governmental official for the purpose of reporting or investigating a suspected violation of law.  But most urgently for employers, the DTSA contains a new notice requirement that employers need to take action quickly to satisfy.

Effective immediately, any new or updated agreements with employees, consultants or independent contractors that govern trade secrets or confidential information need to include a “notice-of-immunity.”  The notice may be provided via reference to a general policy document rather than restating the entire immunity provisions in each agreement.  An employer that fails to provide this notice will forfeit their right to exemplary double damages and attorneys’ fees in an action brought under the DTSA.

Employers wishing to take advantage of the DTSA’s protections need to revise their standard agreements and ensure that any agreement provided on or after May 11, 2016 includes the required notice-of-immunity.  We recommend that you consult with legal counsel to ensure compliance with this new requirement.

 

DOL Announces New Proposed Minimum Salary for Overtime Exemptions

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600px-US-DeptOfLabor-Seal_svgThis morning the Department of Labor announced that it is seeking to increase the number of employees eligible for overtime pay by increasing the minimum salary required if an employee is to be considered exempt under the administrative, executive and professional exemptions.  The proposed increase would take the minimum annualized salary from $23,660 to $50,440.  In addition, under the proposed rule the threshold for the FLSA’s Highly Compensated Employee exemption would rise from $100,000 to $122,148.  Both the minimum salary and the Highly Compensated Employee threshold would be indexed for inflation. The DOL also suggested that it may seek other changes to limit the available overtime exemptions.  If this change becomes a final rule, we would expect it to become effective in 2016.

Note that even if employees meet the higher minimum salary requirement, they still must meet the other requirements for exempt status — being paid on a salary basis and satisfying one of the duties tests — to qualify as exempt from overtime requirements.

No action is necessary at the moment as the proposed rule is not final.  We will keep you updated on future developments.

A Big (Bad?) Week for Employers Under the FLSA

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overtimeIt was a big week for the Fair Labor Standards Act.

On March 7th, the Supreme Court let stand a decision that the owner, president and CEO of a supermarket chain in New York is personally liable for his company’s failure to make required payments on a FLSA settlement agreement.  The owner argued that to be held personally liable he had to be responsible for the violations (rather than just have general control over corporate operations). However, the Supreme Court refused to hear his arguments against the court of appeals’ decision, which can be interpreted broadly to suggest that an individual may be held personally liable for FLSA violations by virtue of general control of over corporate affairs.

On March 10th, the Supreme Court declined to review an appeals court decision finding that undocumented workers can sue — and recover wages owed — under the FLSA.

Then, on March 13th, President Obama directed the Secretary of Labor to update the FLSA’s overtime exemptions to provide more employees with overtime pay.  Some have speculated that the change will be to significantly raise the minimum weekly salary for an employee to be considered exempt under most exemptions (currently $455/week), but changes could also include rewrites of the job duties tests for the frequently used “white collar exemptions” or other limitations on current exemptions.  It remains to be seen what changes will be proposed by the administration and whether they can be implemented before the end of the President’s term.  We will keep you posted as we learn more.