As we mentioned in a previous alert, the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has planned a number of increases to trademark fees. A list of fee increases can be found on the USPTO’s website.
If at all possible, you should file applications and pay post-registration maintenance fees before January 18, 2025, when the increases take effect.
No Salary Threshold Increase
The US Department of Labor (DOL) issued a rule last spring that increases the minimum salary threshold for exempt employees, but last month the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas vacated the new rule.
The court held that the DOL’s rule improperly shifted the focus of the analysis from the workers’ duties to their salaries.
The court’s ruling has been appealed, but at least for now, the minimum salary requirement for exempt employees under federal law has returned to $35,568 per year. Also, the minimum salary requirement for the exemption for highly compensated employees has returned to $107,732 per year.
Skills-First Hiring
Last month, the DOL published a guide for employers on “skills-first” hiring, defined as “the hiring or promotion of workers around skills, knowledge and abilities that workers can demonstrate they have, regardless of how or where they attained those skills.”
The guide includes information about best practices and resources to help employers implement skills-first practices while meeting employment law requirements.
Per Diem Expense Reimbursements
Also last month, the DOL issued an opinion letter discussing when daily expense reimbursements can be excluded from an employee’s regular rate of pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
The FLSA requires employers to pay nonexempt employees at 1½ times their regular rate for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek. The regular rate generally includes all compensation that employees receive for their employment, though there are some exclusions.
One of the statutory exclusions is “reasonable payments for traveling expenses, or other expenses” employees incur in furtherance of their employers’ interests.
According to the DOL’s opinion letter, legitimate reimbursements of actual expenses and payments of reasonable approximations of actual expenses are not considered compensation for work.
If, however, the expense payments are not reimbursements of actual expenses or reasonable approximations of actual expenses, if the payments are made to employees who don’t incur any expenses, or if the amount of the payment varies based on the number of hours worked, these payments are considered to be compensation for work and must be included when calculating the regular rate.
FTC Rule Against Noncompetition Agreements
Legal challenges against the FTC’s new rule against noncompetition agreements were successful, and the rule has not gone into effect. However, many states, including Oregon and Washington, have strict laws about noncompetition agreements.
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Whether you are an employee or an employer, please feel free to contact us if you have any questions about the above or any other employment-law issues.
For more information about employment law, see Employment Law (in Plain English)®, co-authored by members of this law firm.
The book is available through Skyhorse Publishing, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Powell’s Books, and Bookshop (an online bookstore that allows you to support your favorite independently owned bookstore).
