Kentucky Employment Lawyer Blog

Employment lawyers across the country, including Kentucky and Indiana, are waiting to learn whether the Supreme Court will review a 9th Circuit decision upholding a class action of approximately 1.5 millon female employees of Wal-Mart from across the country. Attorneys for the women argue that Wal-Mart engaged in a pattern of discriminatory treatment against women including paying women less than men and promoting women less frequently than men.

The trial court granted certification of this huge class, including millions of current and former Wal-Mart employees across the country. Certifying the class is the first step in a class action lawsuit. The certification process involves a judge determining, essentially, if the class members are vast in number and have similar grievances.

Continue reading "Wal-Mart Asks the United States Supreme Court to Review Class Action" »

Wage and hour attorneys are pleased with the proposed legislation by California Representative Linda Sanchez which will give more protection to home healthcare workers across the country, including Indiana and Kentucky.

Direct care workers are not currently covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act, the federal statutes which regulates the wages and hours of workers. Currently, "any employee employed on a casual basis in domestic service employment to provide babysitting services or any employee employed in domestic service employment to provide companionship services for individuals who (because of age or infirmity) are unable to care for themselves" is considered exempt from the law. The addition to the law, known as the Direct Care Workforce Empowerment Act will require workers to be paid at least minimum wage and overtime if they work at least twenty hours per week.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, this is a very fast growing industry likely due to the rising numbers of Baby Boomers soon to be in need of in-home care.

If you believe that you have not been paid the required minimum wage or overtime, you should contact a wage and hour attorney to learn more about what remedies you have under the FLSA as well as Kentucky and Indiana law.