In June 2019, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in Parker Drilling Management Services, Ltd. v. Newton, 139 S.Ct. 1881 (2019), holding that state wage-and-hour laws do not apply to a worker on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) off the coast of California. The Parker Drilling Court resolved a circuit split between the Ninth Circuit and the Fifth Circuit, adopting the Fifth Circuit’s view that state wage-and-hour laws do not apply to workers on the OCS because the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), a federal law, is controlling on that subject. More broadly, the Court’s decision means that if federal law addresses a particular issue, state law on the same issue will not apply on the OCS. Continue reading >