Opinion ID: 4426996
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Safety Bonus Qualifies as

Text: Remuneration for Employment. 19 In fact, at oral argument the Department of Labor could not point to a single place in the record that indicated either the Pacesetter or efficiency bonuses were based on objective metrics. (Oral Arg. at 21:50-22:00.) 20 There is a reference in the record to a Pacesetter bonus being $500, but it is not clear that it was always $500. As noted by the District Court, “[o]ver the course of this working relationship, Talisman changed the amount of the bonus at its leisure.” (App. at 3.) 31 In contrast, the record does adequately establish that the safety bonus was remuneration for employment.21 The parties do not dispute that Bristol employees knew the specific conduct necessary to earn it – the safety bonus was attained if there were no accidents or injuries during the job. Employees did not have to be briefed daily in order to clearly know the specific conduct required to earn the bonus and have an expectation of receiving it. Employees also knew the specific compensation they would receive. The amount of the safety bonus was always the “daily bonus rate of $20 or $25.” (D.I. 19-1 at 5 ¶ 19.) Thus, regardless of whether employees were told daily that they would receive the safety bonus if they met its requirements, there is little doubt they knew the specific conduct required to earn a specific sum and had an expectation of receiving it for doing what was required. It is also undisputed that Bristol’s facilitation of the program went significantly beyond merely acting as a pass-through. Bristol reached out to Talisman to ask if its employees could participate in the bonus program. Bristol tracked which of its employees earned a bonus and reported that information to Talisman. Bristol regularly invoiced Talisman for payment on behalf of its employees. And finally, Bristol concedes that it was responsible for getting those invoices approved by lower level Talisman employees and “sending the information to Talisman’s contracted invoice processor.” (Opening Br. at 3.) Bristol also collected a “a reasonable processing fee” for its efforts. That level of involvement is enough to support the conclusion that Bristol effectively adopted Talisman’s bonus 21 We can affirm the District Court on any grounds. Blunt v. Lower Merion Sch. Dist., 767 F.3d 247, 265 (3d Cir. 2014). 32 program and implicitly agreed to make it part of the employment agreement with its employees.22 On this record, therefore, the safety bonus is remuneration for employment. And, because the safety bonus does not qualify under any of the statutory exemptions,23 it 22 The same may be true as to the efficiency and Pacesetter bonuses, but we leave consideration of a more developed factual record to the District Court in the first instance. 23 Recall that the FLSA provides eight enumerated exemptions to the requirement that all remuneration for employment be included in the “regular rate” for overtime purposes. 29 U.S.C. § 207(e). The employer bears the burden of establishing the applicability of an exemption. Madison, 233 F.3d at 183. Before the District Court, Bristol argued that the bonuses should qualify under three possible exemptions: “bonus payments as gifts; payments made for occasional periods when no work is performed; and payments paid for services, without prior agreement, where discretionary payment in fact and amount is retained by the employer.” (App. at 5-6 (citing U.S.C. § 207(e)(1)-(3)).) Bristol did not raise in its opening brief the arguments that the bonuses should qualify for the exemption for gifts or occasional periods when no work is performed. As a result, we need not consider those arguments now. Hoxworth v. Blinder, Robinson & Co., 903 F.2d 186, 204-05 n.29 (3d Cir.1990). Even if we did, however, it would be a painful stretch to say that the safety bonus qualifies under those exemptions. Gifts are defined to include “payments in the nature of gifts made at Christmas time or on other special 33 should be included in the “regular rate” of pay for those Bristol employees who have been earning that bonus.