Employment Law Bradley Stonefield -- Landslide Limousines

From: Traci Goldeman -- Atwood and Allen Consulting

Review of Applicable Labor Laws

Department of Labor -- Wage and Hour Division

Labor laws are important to keep in mind and be knowledgeable about. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) has established the minimum wage for workers, the way overtime should be paid, how to keep proper records for full time and part time employees. The FLSA applies to private employers, state and federal employees, the U.S. Postal Service and of course your business will be impacted by the FLSA. Currently in Texas the minimum wage is $7.25. The penalty for failure to pay at least the minimum wage is, in general, is up to $1,100 "for each violation" (DOL). There is a provision in the FLSA that if your employees receive tips (on a regular basis) you may be able to "pay them less than the minimum wage, as long as what you pay them plus the tips…" add up to at least the minimum wage (Nolo). At this point in the memo I should point out that the average annual salary for a limousine driver is $25,020 (Suttle, 2013).

U.S. Department of Labor -- Compliance Assistance

This law set standards for retirement and health benefit plans in private industry. You aren't required to provide your drivers with a retirement plan, but you should be aware of the new Affordable Care Act (also called Obamacare). According to Bloomberg Businessweek, if you have less than 50 employees, you are not required to provide health insurance coverage for them. But if you grow to a point where you have over 50 employees, and they are full-time, you will need to provide insurance. In fact when you have fifty employees and they are working 30 hours a week on average, you'll have to provide them with health insurance "…starting 90 days after they are hired" (Klein, 2013). The fine for failure to provide insurance (assuming your business meets the specifications mentioned above) is up to "$2,000 per employee" (Klein). By the way, if you have provided health insurance for an employee, and that person leaves or is fired, he or she can continue to receive health insurance coverage under…