The risk of high-exposure wage claims is far greater than ever and you need to make sure you are protected. Lawsuits under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) alone have exploded into one of the biggest sources of employment-law claims, and the U.S. Labor Department is stepping up FLSA investigations.
On August 12, 2010, NACS hosted a webinar for its members to review Wage-Hour Laws and how they affect the convenience store industry. The webinar consisted of a PowerPoint presentation by John Thompson, a wage-hour attorney at the law firm of Fisher & Phillips, and a question and answer session (the full audio archive of the webinar is available here). We did not have enough time to answer all of the wage-hour questions during the one-hour webinar so please visit the questions and answer document to see the answers to your questions.
NACS Staff Contact: Corey Fitze, cfitze@nacsonline.com
The Federal Reserve Bank (the Fed) has issued a draft of a survey that will be sent to all debit card issuers in an effort to collect information that will be used to determine how they regulate debit card interchange fees. The Fed has requested that impacted industries comment on the proposed survey so as to gather the best possible information.
NACS submitted its comments on behalf of the industry on August 20, 2010. Click here to see the letter in its entirety.
NACS suggests the Fed address four specific areas of the survey:
- the need for historical data dating back to 1990
- the need for data on the paper check system
- the need to determine the specific costs not related to the transaction which must NOT be considered when setting the rates for debit cards
- the need to collect fraud and fraud prevention data
NACS Staff Contact: Lyle Beckwith, lbeckwith@nacsonline.com
This week the FDA put out two guidance documents on menu labeling provisions that were enacted in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
The first guidance is titled, "Questions and Answers Regarding Implementation of the Menu Labeling Provisions of Section 4205 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act." The guidance addresses the current thinking of the FDA on:
- disclosing the number of calories in each standard menu item on menus and menu boards
- making additional written nutrition information available to consumers upon request
- providing a statement on menus and menu boards about the availability of the additional nutrition information
- providing calorie information (per serving or per food item) for most self-service items and food on display, on a sign adjacent to each food item.
In addition, FDA confirms that the requirement that chain vending machine operators disclose the calories of any article of food that does not permit examination of the Nutrition Facts panel prior to purchase also became effective immediately upon enactment. It is requested that impacted parties submit comments on the entire document. Draft guidance is here.
The second document is titled, "Questions and Answers Regarding the Effect of Section 4025 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 on State and Local Menu and Vending Machine Labeling Laws."
FDA states that the guidance should serve to inform industry and state and local governments of the impact on state and local menu and vending machine labeling laws, and to ensure that these stakeholders understand the immediate effects of the law. The guidance permits comment, but will be implemented immediately as a final guidance because public participation is deemed to be unnecessary or inappropriate in light of the need to respond expeditiously to the mandates in the law. Final guidance is here.
NACS Staff Contact: Julie Fields, jfields@nacsonline.com