Delivering automated solutions as a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model is a direction that many organizations are moving towards.

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DBSquared Feature: The Paycheck Fairness Act

On July 20, 2010, President Obama had the following to say about the Paycheck Fairness Act. “We cannot do this work alone. So today, I thank the House for its work on this issue and encourage the Senate to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, a common-sense bill that will help ensure that men and women who do equal work receive the equal pay that they and their families deserve Passing this bill is one of the Task Force’s key recommendations, and I hope Congress will act swiftly so that I can sign it into law.“ If you would like to read more about President Obama’s comments, you can click on the link below to visit the White House blog on this issue.

However, to all disputes, many feel much different about the Paycheck Fairness Act. Some of the greatest concerns that were mentioned in a Forbes blog written by Daniel Fisher are that the Paycheck Fairness Act will eliminate flexibility in addressing different salary histories for new hires, different salary demands from existing employees, the size of pay raises for people promoted into new roles, etc. The article mentioned a quote from Allan Dinkoff, who is with the employment law practice at Weil, Gotshal Manges. When addressing President Obama’s comment “a common-sense bill”, Dinkoff said, “But the core of the bill is anything but common sense”. You can read the full article below titled “Paycheck Fairness Act Will Be Anything But”.
The White House Blog
Paycheck Fairness Act Will Be Anything But
DBSquared in the News:

Delivering automated solutions as a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model is a direction that many organizations are moving towards. By offering an online application in the SaaS environment, there are many benefits provided to the client organization. Faster speed when working with an application and updates made quickly and easily are a couple of primary benefits. Another great benefit would be freeing a clients IT department from day-to-day oversight as the service provider can host the solution and manage the client’s database. DBSquared recently launched a compensation management system in the SaaS environment to meet their client’s needs. The details are listed in the press release below. Please click on the link to learn more.
Press Release
August 2010 Edition
Newsletter Spotlight
The Paycheck
Fairness Act:
“A common sense bill”

DBCompensation & DBDescriptions

Free Demonstration! Would you like to like to see how you can create job descriptions in minutes? Would you like to see an all automated compensation management system, which handles job evaluation and salary administration? Please join DBSquared for one of our complimentary webinars. We would love to show you how automation can save your organzation time, energy and money. There are two upcoming online meetings. Please click on the link below to register.

 

Re Novartis Wage and Hour Litigation

On July 6, 2010, the Second Circuit Court ruled that Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation’s pharmaceutical sales representatives did not meet the requirements of the administrative or outside sales exemptions under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Therefore, they were incorrectly classified as exempt employees. The Second Circuit also reversed a decision by the district court for the Southern district of New York and reached a conclusion contrary to that reached by the Third Circuit in the recent Smith v. Johnson &Johnson case.

This story was posted by the Wage and Hour Practice Group on July 12, 2010. Some of the Supporting Facts that led the Second Circuit to this decision for outside sales employees are below:

  • The Second Circuit concluded that the Novartis Reps do not meet the requirements of the outside sales exemption because they do not “make sales.” The court relied heavily on the Secretary of Labor’s amicus curiae position that a “sale” requires an exchange of consideration between buyer and seller and that, at best, Reps simply seek a positive affirmation from physicians that they will prescribe Novartis’s products in the future.
  • Although Novartis argued that the preamble to the regulations accompanying the FLSA provides that “commitments to buy” may constitute “making sales” under the exemption, the court rejected the argument as applied to this case. It held that the type of ’commitment’ the Reps seek and sometimes receive from physicians is not a commitment ’to buy’ and is not even a binding commitment to prescribe.”

This information was taken from the Wage and Hour Counsel website. To read more about this case and learn more about the Outside Sales exemption as well as the Administrative exemption, please click on the link below.
Second Circuit Finds Pharmaceutical Sales Representatives Non-Exempt