Wal-Mart Settles Overtime Lawsuits
Last week, Wal-Mart announced that it is going to pay approximately $640 million to settle the majority of the 76 FLSA lawsuits pending against it the Wall Street Journal reported. The allegations included forcing employees to work off the clock, prohibiting employees from taking breaks and changing time records. Some commentators believe that the settlements may have an ulterior motive: to help prevent the unionization of Wal-Mart employees and to help Wal-Mart's fight against the Employee Free Choice Act.
Interestingly, last week, I received a letter from an Alabama law firm entitled "New Favorable Rulings Under FLSA". The letter mentioned three particular types of claims under the FLSA, misclassification of employees as exempt when they are not, classifying employees as independent contractors when they should be classified as employees, and forcing workers to work "off the clock". The firm is interested in looking at cases involving these issues. FLSA cases are alive and well in Alabama, and with more attorney's pursuing these cases, I anticipate the number of FLSA cases that are filed will continue to rise.
Practice Pointer.
As we enter 2009, now is a good time to review your classifications for FLSA purposes to make sure that your employees are properly classified, either as exempt or non-exempt. It is also a good time to review with your managers and supervisors the importance of proper time keeping for non-exempt employees, and that they must be paid overtime if they work over 40 hours a week.
