LinkedIn employees receive overtime back-pay, other damages

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires employers to pay non-salaried, non-exempt employees at least a minimum hourly wage of $7.25. States can set the minimum wage higher, though the federal minimum is currently $7.25. The FLSA also requires employers to pay 150 percent of a non-salaried employee’s regular compensation rate for every hour that exceeds 40 in a single work week. These wage and hour laws are meant to ensure that workers receive the compensation they earn.

Unfortunately, some employers fail to meet their requirements under the FLSA. For example, the professional social networking site LinkedIn was investigated by the U.S. Department of Labor, which found that LinkedIn had violated the FLSA. In particular, the company failed to pay overtime hours to 359 former and current employees in a number of states, including New York.

LinkedIn settled the wage and hour dispute by agreeing to pay a total of about $6 million to the affected workers. The Labor Department, which recently announced the settlement, also confirmed that the workers had already received the payments, which in all came to about $2.5 million in damages and about $3.3 million in retroactive overtime pay.

According to an administrator with the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division, LinkedIn has agreed to take additional steps to ensure future compliance with the FLSA.

Here are a few things to keep in mind with regard to wage and hour claims:

  • Undocumented workers also have rights.
  • In New York, the statute of limitations for bringing a claim is six years.
  • Employers are not permitted to retaliate when workers complain about wages.

When workers are denied the wages they earn, often whole families are affected. You can learn more about these issues at our wage and hour law overview.

Source: Kioskea.net, “LinkedIn Settles in $6M Wage Dispute,” Nicole Motta, Aug. 5, 2014

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