Employers Face Overtime Lawsuits

According to Business Law Today and the Washington Post lawyers for big businesses around the country are working overtime to protect corporate giants facing lawsuits for failing to pay overtime to rank-and-file employees.

As discussed in an article by Stephen Franklin of the Chicago Tribune, cases against State Farm Mutual Insurance and Allstate Insurance led to payouts of over $100 million for each.

This is also a significant problem for smaller businesses. In my experience it is not uncommon for small employers to misclassify employees. The U.S. Department of Labor has upped its enforcement of federal overtime standards. According to the Business Law Today article, the department saw a 26 percent increase in back wages won for workers and an 11 percent increase in the number of workers it was able to help last year.

A human resource audit can help you determine whether you are classifying workers properly.