The Akerman Angle

In Episode 15 of the Akerman Angle Labor and Employment Series, Jeff Kimmel and Damien DeLaney, Co-Chairs of Akerman’s Wage and Hour Practice, discuss the evolution of the federal Department of Labor’s test for determining whether workers are independent contractors or employee and what employers need to know about the recently proposed rule issued by the DOL on February 26, 2026.

In Episode 14 of the Akerman Angle Labor and Employment Series, Jeff Kimmel and Damien DeLaney discuss the evolving landscape of federal and state laws regarding the enforceability of non-compete agreements and what employers should be doing to ensure that they do not run afoul of the law while protecting their business interests.

In Episode 13 of the Akerman Angle Employment Law Series, co-hosts Damien DeLaney and Jeff Kimmel explore the most significant trends in labor and employment law from the past year and discuss what these developments may signal for 2026. Together, they examine key topics including pay transparency laws, the regulation of AI in employment decisions, evolving standards for classifying independent contractors at the federal level, state and federal approaches to the enforceability of employee non-compete agreements, expanded leave entitlements, workplace safety regulations, enhanced wage and hour enforcement at the state and local levels, and shifting priorities at federal agencies such as the DOL and EEOC.

In Episode 12 of the Akerman Angle Labor and Employment Series, Jeff Kimmel and Damien DeLaney, Co-Chairs of Akerman’s Wage and Hour Practice, analyze the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Donald J. Trump v. CASA, Inc., which restricts district court judges’ authority to issue “universal injunctions,” fundamentally altering how key federal policies can be challenged judicially. They also discuss a recent Department of Labor policy shift expected to reduce employers’ monetary exposure during federal audits.

In Episode 11 of The Akerman Angle, hosts Jeff Kimmel and Damien DeLaney, Co-Chairs of Akerman’s Wage and Hour Practice, dive into what employers can expect under the "Trump 2.0" administration. They discuss the future of ongoing litigation surrounding the Biden era increases in salary thresholds for overtime exempt employees, the tip credit minimum wage, independent contractor classification, and how the Department of Labor’s focus may shift under the new administration. The episode also touches on elements of Project 2025 that may impact wage and hour laws.

In episode 10, Jeff Kimmel and Damien DeLaney, Co-Chairs of Akerman’s Wage and Hour Practice, discuss the Department of Labor’s final rule increasing the salary thresholds for the overtime exemptions for executive, administrative, and professional employees as well as the “highly compensated executive” exemption and how employers should prepare pending the effective date of the final rule. Note: Since the recording of this podcast several court cases have been filed challenging the validity and enforceability of this final rule. We will provide updates in future episodes on any significant developments in these cases.

In Episode 9, Jeff Kimmel and Damien DeLaney discuss recent developments in the courts on agreements to arbitrate employment disputes, what it all means in the world of wage and hour litigation, and what employers should keep in mind when deciding whether to adopt an arbitration agreement.

In episode 8, Damien DeLaney and Jeff Kimmel, Co-Chairs of Akerman’s Wage and Hour Practice discuss the Federal DOL’s recent Notice of Proposed Rule Making proposing regarding federal overtime pay obligations. Jeff and Damien discuss the details of the proposed rule, the potential effects of the rule on employers, and what employers should do to prepare.

In episode 7, Jeff Kimmel and Damien DeLaney discussed pay transparency laws and trends before a live audience at Akerman’s Labor & Employment Summit in Santa Monica, California. Pay transparency has become a catch-all term for a variety of legal requirements that states and local governments have imposed on employers in an effort to reduce or eliminate inequities in compensation among employees doing similar jobs, which extend from requiring employers to report pay data to government agencies to requiring employers to fully post salary ranges when advertising positions or upon inquiry. Jeff and Damien break down the trends in state and local pay transparency laws, as well as bans on salary history inquiries; the effects of those laws on employees and employers; best practices for how employers can comply; and they take on questions from the audience.

Damien DeLaney and Jeff Kimmel, Co-Chairs of Akerman’s Wage and Hour Practice, have a discussion with Genaira Tyce, a partner in Akerman’s Traditional Labor Law Practice, about the increasing overlap between wage and hour laws and traditional labor law. The NLRB has been expanding its interpretation of the National Labor Relations Act to include claims that previously had been thought of as under the domain of wage an hour law. In addition, the NLRB and the DOL have entered into a memorandum of understanding to foster cooperation between the two agencies in order to increase interagency referrals of potential violations. In this episode, Genaira explains how this affects all employers, including non-union businesses, what they should be aware of, and what they should do to prepare for this new aggressive approach by the NLRB.

Damien DeLaney and Jeff Kimmel, Co-Chairs of Akerman’s Wage and Hour Practice discuss new laws and court cases that may have an impact on what employers need to do to comply with wage and hour laws in 2023. In this episode, Jeff and Damien discuss expected challenges to new rules put into effect by the Biden Administration, including the test for classification of workers as independent contractors, the new 80/20 rule to determine if workers can be paid the tip credit minimum wage, a new wave of court challenges how collective actions under the Fair Labor Standards Act are administered by the courts, and court challenges to certain regulatory restrictions on use of the “white collar” exemptions to FLSA overtime requirements.

Damien DeLaney and Jeff Kimmel, Co-Chairs of Akerman’s Wage and Hour Practice, discuss the Department of Labor’s proposed rule for determining if a worker is an independent contractor that was published for comment on October 13, 2022.

Damien DeLaney and Jeff Kimmel, Co-Chairs of Akerman’s Wage and Hour Practice discuss employer/employee agreements to arbitrate disputes. In this episode, Jeff and Damien discuss the current state of the law regarding enforceability of employee arbitration agreements and how this may evolve in the future, as well as the pros and cons of employers adopting an arbitration policy.

Jeff Kimmel and Damien DeLaney, Co-Chairs of Akerman's Wage and Hour Practice, discuss the wage and hour challenges associated with remote workers. In this episode, Jeff and Damien address what employers need to know to ensure that non-exempt remote workers are paid properly, are given required breaks, and reimbursed for certain expenses incurred by remote workers, as required by applicable law.

Jeff Kimmel and Damien DeLaney, Co-Chairs of Akerman’s Wage and Hour Practice, lead discussions on the most important developments and trends in wage and hour law, and break down complex wage and hour issues so that employers can stay on top of wage and hour laws at the federal, state and local level and avoid costly lawsuits or government enforcement proceedings.