We recently hosted a Foley Executive Briefing Series breakfast seminar analyzing the timely topic of wage and hour class actions. More than any other employment-related matter, wage and hour cases are flooding the federal and state dockets. Moreover, they are costing employers “big bucks” in settlements and litigation expenses. In 2007, it was reported that the top 10 private plaintiff wage and hour class actions realized more than $300 million in settlements. These cases covered employees in health care, transportation, manufacturing, retail, service, and office work.
Ellen C. Kearns, a Foley litigation attorney with an extensive background in wage and hour law, provided updates on the latest developments in the wage and hour area, including:
- Liability for unpaid pre-work and post-work activities, including activities performed by employees working at home, on personal digital assistants (PDAs), or on cell phones
- Liability for time spent commuting to and from work Joint employer liability for contingent workers employed through temporary agencies
- The latest in white collar “misclassification” cases
Ellen recently has been appointed editor-in-chief of a new treatise on the Fair Labor Standards Act, updating her former treatise published in 1999. Ellen also is editor of the Massachusetts Chapter on Wage and Hour Law for the BNA treatise entitled, Wage and Hour Laws: A State-by-State Survey (BNA 2004).
Wage and Hour Class Actions — The New Wave of Employment Litigation is part of the Foley Executive Briefing Series. Learn more about upcoming programs in the series at Foley.com/FEBS.