Pay Now or Pay Later

by Kathryn Carlson

With 250 newly hired investigators, the Department of Labor is serious about prosecuting violators of wage and hour laws. The U.S. Secretary of Labor, Hilda L. Solis, issued a statement regarding the increased enforcement and outreach efforts of the department’s Wage and Hour Division that makes it clear that the Department of Labor will be cracking down on employer who violate the law, knowingly or unknowingly. The department will also launch a national public awareness campaign titled "We Can Help" to inform workers about their rights.

With the increased awareness by workers of their rights, the complexity of wage and hour law (Fair Labor Standards Act) and the stated goal by the Department of Labor of increased enforcement, employers are highly vulnerable to litigation, Department of Labor investigations, fines and actions.

Wage and hour litigation – specifically FLSA overtime collective action -- far outpaces employment discrimination class action filings. A record-breaking collection of wages for overtime demonstrates the department’s commitment to bringing employers into compliance. In fact, there are more wage and hour lawsuits pending in the federal courts than all other employment claims combined.

A few recent example of wage and hour judgments and fine:

$84,541: New York physical therapist agrees to pay 22 employees for minimum wage violations
$4.75 million: Hospital in Thousand Oaks, California settles wage and hour lawsuit over miscalculated overtime pay and failing to compensate workers for
missed meal and rest periods.
$1.15 million: Las Vegas construction company to pay in back wages to 1,060 current and former employees.

$30,000: Texas chain of four gas stations to pay their six hourly employees, again for recordkeeping and overtime violations.
$976,327: New Mexico aerospace company settles with 900 employees who were routinely required to work through lunch breaks without compensation.
$340,400: New Jersey convenience store to pay back wages and damages for violations of overtime and recordkeeping.

Fortunately, you can avoid costly overtime wage and hour lawsuits by ensuring FLSA compliance when it comes to three central areas; exempt employees, hours worked, and calculating overtime. The most common mistakes employer make are:

Improper deductions from salaried employees
Improper calculation of “regular rate”
Job descriptions for exempt employees that do not reflect exempt duties
Nonexempt employees working through meal breaks
Nonexempt employees performing work before or after they punch or log in/out
Employees who routinely stay late but have no overtime
Not complying with employer’s own written policies
Misclassification of nonexempt employees to avoid overtime
Improper salary deductions
Requiring or permitting “off the clock” work
Miscalculation of regular rate for overtime purposes
Failure to comply with more stringent state laws in addition to federal law
Poorly drafted or non -existent pay plans

For guidance and assistance with wage calculations, pay plans, employee classification and development of payment policies, dealerships have a powerful tool available- HotlinkHR™. Designed by leading labor and employment attorneys, HotlinkHR™ provides a total system for HR management that allows you to automate all essential process, improve efficiency with simple easy to use software and access expert advice on demand. Everything you need to save time, resources and ultimately money contained in a single HR Management system.

KPA blog post on wage and hour investigators.

Learn more about HotlinkHR.

Related Webinars:

Email Feedback