|
|||||||||
|
EMPLOYER CLIENT ALERT: December 2008 Wal-Mart’s $352 Million Settlement of Wage and Hour On December 23, 2008, Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, agreed to pay approximately $352 million to settle 63 lawsuits pending in federal and state courts in 42 states for wage and hour violations. The payments could reach $640 million depending on the number of wage claims affected workers submit. The settlement has been described as one of the largest wage settlements ever. The wage and hour suits against Wal-Mart accused the Company and its
managers of several illegal tactics, including: (1) forcing employees to
work unpaid off the clock; (2) erasing hours from time cards; and (3)
preventing workers from taking lunch and other breaks that were either
promised by the Company or guaranteed by state laws. This settlement offers a wake up call for all employers, large and small, concerning the importance of establishing and following procedures to guard against federal and state wage and hour violations. The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) prescribes standards for basic minimum wage and overtime pay and affects most private and public employment. It is administered by the Employment Standards Administration's Wage and Hour Division within the U.S. Department of Labor. New Jersey wage and hour laws are administered by the Division of Wage and Hour Compliance within the New Jersey State Department of Labor. Both the federal and state Departments of Labor enforce labor laws dealing with conditions of employment and the underpayment or late payment of wages, or possible violations of Wage and Hour laws and regulations. The Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) contains several exemptions to the general requirement to pay employees overtime. The exemptions provide that certain categories of employers and employees are not subject to the FLSA’s overtime and/or minimum wage requirements. The most common exemptions are for employees who are executive, professional, computer professional, administrative, or outside sales employees. When analyzing whether your pay practices comply with federal and state wage and hour laws, the best place to start is to review your employees’ actual job duties (not just job title, and job duties listed in the job description which could be outdated) to make sure you have properly characterized them as “exempt” or “non-exempt” from overtime. Many employers mistakenly believe if they pay their employee a salary instead of an hourly wage, that the employer is not required to pay the employee for overtime. Next, you must be sure that you are paying non-exempt workers for all
of the hours they have actually worked. To do so, you must know how many
hours the employees actually work each week in order to determine
whether they entitled to overtime, and if so, how much. The employer
must keep accurate records of all hours worked by their employees.
Non-exempt employees are paid for all breaks that are less than 30
minutes long, including bathroom breaks, smoking breaks, snack breaks,
etc. In order to be unpaid, the break must exceed 30 minutes and during
the break, the employee must be completely relieved of all job
responsibilities. Failing to properly count all hours worked by an
employee can also get the employer into trouble under minimum wage laws
in the event the pay for hours worked divided by the number of hours
falls below the minimum wage. Laddey Clark and Ryan’s Employment and Labor Law Practice Group will be giving a seminar on Compliance with Wage and Hour Laws on Wednesday, March 18, 2009. Additional information on this program will be forthcoming. We will announce our next series in February 2009. If you have any questions about any of the issues raised in this
Employer Alert, or any employment and labor issue or concern, please
call Thomas Ryan, Esq. or Linda Day, Esq. of Laddey, Clark & Ryan’s
Employment and Labor Practice Group at (973) 729-1880. If you do not
wish to receive updates concerning developments in the law which could
affect your business in the future, p The Employment and Labor Practice Group
|
|||||||||
