Tim Coffield

In Goldberg v. Whitaker House Co-op., Inc., 366 U.S. 28, 81 S. Ct. 933, 6 L. Ed. 2d 100 (1961), the Supreme Court held that members of a knitting cooperative who performed “homework,” were paid on a piece-rate basis to make items for the co-op, and who were subject to expulsion for substandard work, were “employees” of the co-op within the meaning of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The case is important because, inter alia, it applied an “economic realities” test for determining the existence o...

The Fair Labor Standards Act requires covered employers to pay minimum wages and overtime compensation to certain categories of employees. These requirements involve a determination as to the number of hours an employee “works” each workweek. As explained below, the FLSA generally requires that compensable working time include any time that an employee is suffered or permitted to work. FLSA regulations further provide that, generally speaking, short rest periods of 5 to 20 minutes are conside...

The Fair Labor Standards Act requires covered employers to pay minimum wages and overtime compensation to certain categories of employees. These requirements involve a determination as to the number of hours an employee “works” each workweek. As explained below, the FLSA generally requires that compensable working time include any time that an employee is suffered or permitted to work. FLSA regulations further provide that, generally speaking, short rest periods of 5 to 20 minutes are conside...

In Goldberg v. Whitaker House Co-op., Inc., 366 U.S. 28, 81 S. Ct. 933, 6 L. Ed. 2d 100 (1961), the Supreme Court held that members of a knitting cooperative who performed “homework,” were paid on a piece-rate basis to make items for the co-op, and who were subject to expulsion for substandard work, were “employees” of the co-op within the meaning of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The case is important because, inter alia, it applied an “economic realities” test for determining the existence o...

In Helix Energy Sols. Grp., Inc. v. Hewitt, 143 S. Ct. 677 (2023), the Supreme Court held that the salary-basis test for certain exemptions to the Fair Labor Standards Act is not met when the employee at issue is paid a day rate, even when the day rate exceeds the required minimum weekly salary level. More specifically, the Department of Labor regulation setting out the salary-basis test requires predetermined weekly compensation for the FLSA’s overtime exemption for executive employees. The ...

Virginia’s Veteran Preferential Hiring Law, Va. Code § 40.1-27.2 (“VPHL,” titled “Preference for veterans and spouses,”) allows employers to choose to grant preference in hiring and promotion to veterans or the spouses of disabled veterans.
Definition of Disabled Veteran
The VPHL generally defines “disabled veteran” for the purposes of its provisions as a veteran who has been found by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or by a retirement board of a branch of one of the armed forces to ha...

Virginia’s Civil Air Patrol Leave Law, Va. Code § 40.1-28.7:6 (“CAPLL,” titled “Employers to allow leave for volunteer members of Civil Air Patrol; civil remedy”), provides that employees who are volunteer members of the Civil Air Patrol are entitled to limited amounts of job-protected leave for training for or responding to emergency missions.
Job-Protected Leave For Civil Air Patrol Training and Missions
The CAPLL provides job-protected leave for employees who are volunteer members of the C...

In Equal Emp’t Opportunity Comm’n v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc., 575 U.S. 768 (2015), the Supreme Court held that to prove a religion-based disparate treatment claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a job applicant need only show that her need for a religious accommodation was a motivating factor in the employer’s adverse employment action. Therefore, the applicant did not need to show that the prospective employer knew that the applicant’s practice was a religious pract...

Tim Coffield is an attorney based in Charlottesville, Virginia. Tim is the founder of Coffield PLC, where he practices employment and civil rights law. Tim represents employees and groups of employees in civil matters, including wage-and-hour and contract matters.
Tim works to make sure workers are paid all the compensation they have earned. He represents workers whose employers have not complied with federal or state law governing minimum wage, overtime, FLSA exemptions, misclassification, b...

In Torres v. Texas Dep’t of Pub. Safety, 142 S. Ct. 2455 (2022), the Supreme Court held that States do not have sovereign immunity against damages claims for servicemember employment discrimination in violation of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA). The Court determined that by ratifying the Constitution, the States agreed their sovereignty would yield to the national power to raise and support the military. Therefore, Congress was free to exercise ...

The Virginia Employee Social Media Privacy Act, VA Code § 40.1-28.7:5 (“VESMPA”), titled “Social media accounts of current and prospective employees,” generally prohibits Virginia employers from (1) requiring employees or prospective employees to disclose their social media usernames and passwords or (2) to “friend” or “connect” with the employer on social media. As with many laws, however, the VESMPA has some exceptions to the general rule.
Employer Defined
The VESMPA defines “employer” broa...

In Harbourt v. PPE Casino Resorts Maryland, LLC, 820 F.3d 655 (4th Cir. 2016) the Fourth Circuit held that under the Fair Labor Standards Act, compensable “work,” for which the FLSA requires employers to pay at least minimum wage, broadly encompasses physical or mental exertion, whether burdensome or not, controlled or required by the employer primarily for its benefit, and therefore training can constitute “work” under the FLSA.
Statutory Background – Compensable “Work” under the FLSA
Congre...

Virginia’s Misclassification Anti-Retaliation Law, Va. Code § 40.1-33.1 (“MARL,” titled “Retaliatory actions prohibited; civil penalty”), provides that employers shall not discharge, penalize, or take any retaliatory action against an employee or independent contractor for reporting, or planning to report, to an appropriate authority an employer’s failure to properly classify an individual as an employee and failure to pay required benefits or other contributions.
The MARL is important becaus...

In Cruz v. Maypa, 773 F.3d 138 (4th Cir. 2014), the Fourth Circuit held that the limitations period for claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act was equitably tolled because the employer failed to post the required notice explaining workers’ rights under the FLSA. The decision is important because it means an employer who fails to post the required notice may lose its ability to assert a statute of limitations defense in FLSA cases.
Statutory Background
Congress enacted the FLSA “to protect ...

In Morgan v. Sundance, Inc., 142 S. Ct. 1708 (2022), the Supreme Court held that prejudice is not a condition of finding that a party, by litigating too long, waived its right to stay litigation or compel arbitration under the Federal Arbitration Act.
Facts
Morgan worked as an hourly employee at a Taco Bell franchise owned by Sundance. When she applied for the job, Morgan signed an agreement to arbitrate employment disputes. Morgan later filed in court a collective action asserting that Sunda...