Wage & Hour/Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) Litigation & Counseling

Nationwide collective and class actions alleging “off the clock” violations or misclassifications of employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) or state law wage and hour statutes can put millions of dollars at risk for companies.

Our Wage and Hour/FLSA Litigation and Counseling team defends companies in federal and state wage and hour collective and class actions at every stage, including trial and appeal. We’ve established a reputation of achieving cost-effective, excellent results that are consistent with the business needs of our clients.

Our team’s litigators have developed a broad range of innovative strategies to attack wage and hour collective and class action claims. We have defended hundreds of wage and hour collective and class actions over the past 20 years against many of the most prominent plaintiff-side firms. Drawing on this experience, we:

Handle the full spectrum of class and collective action lawsuits, including claims related to:
- Employee classification
- Preliminary and postliminary activities
- Meal periods and rest breaks
- “Off the clock” work
- Wage payment issues
- Issues related to payment and distribution of tips
- Independent contractor/employee classification issues
- Suitable seating
- Alternative work schedules
- Wage disclosure laws
- Compensability of time under collective bargaining agreements.
Counsel companies to ensure their workplace procedures are compliant with the constantly-evolving and increasingly stringent federal and state legislation and Department of Labor (DOL) guidance.
Identify strategies and best practices for employee policies and workplace practices in leadership with companies’ in-house legal, management and human resources teams to avoid litigation.
Perform targeted compliance audits, recommends and helps to implement remedial measures, and conducts training, helping companies fully understand their obligations under federal and state law.
Resolve matters before the DOL and state wage and hour agencies, representing employers in virtually every sector of the economy, including those with workforces as large as 100,000 employees nationwide.
Assist with trial strategies, including:
- Using sophisticated expert analyses from expert witnesses in the areas of statistics, labor economics and surveys
- Quickly and effectively gathering class member testimony
- Limiting discovery to a small subset of class members so a company can present its case while reducing class litigation costs
- Using early summary judgment when appropriate as an option for ending class cases early or exposing disparate factual issues that preclude class treatment.

Handle the full spectrum of class and collective action lawsuits, including claims related to:
- Employee classification
- Preliminary and postliminary activities
- Meal periods and rest breaks
- “Off the clock” work
- Wage payment issues
- Issues related to payment and distribution of tips
- Independent contractor/employee classification issues
- Suitable seating
- Alternative work schedules
- Wage disclosure laws
- Compensability of time under collective bargaining agreements.
Counsel companies to ensure their workplace procedures are compliant with the constantly-evolving and increasingly stringent federal and state legislation and Department of Labor (DOL) guidance.
Identify strategies and best practices for employee policies and workplace practices in leadership with companies’ in-house legal, management and human resources teams to avoid litigation.
Perform targeted compliance audits, recommends and helps to implement remedial measures, and conducts training, helping companies fully understand their obligations under federal and state law.
Resolve matters before the DOL and state wage and hour agencies, representing employers in virtually every sector of the economy, including those with workforces as large as 100,000 employees nationwide.
Assist with trial strategies, including:
- Using sophisticated expert analyses from expert witnesses in the areas of statistics, labor economics and surveys
- Quickly and effectively gathering class member testimony
- Limiting discovery to a small subset of class members so a company can present its case while reducing class litigation costs
- Using early summary judgment when appropriate as an option for ending class cases early or exposing disparate factual issues that preclude class treatment.