Labor & Employment Law

More on Overtime Claims

By Michael Fitzgibbon

George Lenard has a post Employers Beware: Costly Overtime Suits Big Trend and also refers to the Business Week article Wage Wars I mentioned in yesterday's post.   A couple of notable quotes from the Business Week article:

Because wage and hour laws have been so widely violated, undetonated legal mines remain buried in countless companies, according to defense and plaintiffs? lawyers alike.

* * *

While violations appear widespread, employees themselves rarely think to make wage and hour claims. Instead, they usually have it suggested to them by lawyers. "Ninety-five percent of our wage and hour cases are a result of someone coming to us complaining about something else," says Thomas. "I can't tell you how many people have come into our office with employment disputes that are meritless and would be thrown out of court and walk out with an FLSA claim."

The U.S. experience as relates to overtime claims is certainly instructive.  Canadian employers would be wise to take note and proactively look at their own practices and policies. 

If you are interested in the U.S. experience, you might want to follow George's blog and Michael Fox's blog.

Full post as published by Thoughts from a Management Lawyer on October 02, 2007 (boomark / email).