The Fair Labor Standards Act is the federal law that regulates, among other things, overtime pay for US workers. It has been a source of concern for small and big businesses that the US Department of Labor was set to enact - effective December 1, 2016 - a new rule which raised the salary cap below which workers must receive overtime pay from $455 a week to $921 per week (the "Overtime Rule"). In other words, the new Overtime Rule was about to make roughly 4 million more workers eligible for overtime: almost all workers who earned up to $47,892.00 annually.
This rule applied to all organizations: both for profits and non profits.
The compliance aspects of this were messy to say the least.
Read moreRaising funds to capitalize a new venture is not for the faint of heart. This applies whether you are a true startup business about to go to market, but can also apply if you are an experienced business person that creates special purpose entities (SPEs) to carry out discrete economic activities such as large scale commercial real estate development.
In Pennsylvania (as in every other state), there is an overlay of state securities law that provides an additional set of considerations to the federal laws and rules promulgated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
One thing, however, all potential securities issuers should know: compliance with the federal and state securities laws can require time, energy and resources prior to any actual sale or acceptance of investor funds. If you intend to raise money from investors, strategic planning is necessary to ensure compliance with state and federal law.
Read more