Arbitrate or litigate? Like everything else in the law, it
depends...
Whether a claim for overtime should be arbitrated rather than
fought out in court depends on whether the claim necessitates
examination and interpretation of the labor contract. Under
well-established legal principles, workers have an independent
right to sue in court, rather than arbitrate, but if the employer
successfully argues that contract interpretation is required, the
lawsuit is preempted by labor law and arbitration ensues.
Indeed, I believe most employers that I deal with would rather
be in arbitration than a full-blown FLSA litigation involving
claims for overtime, but in a case entitled Independent
Laboratory Employees' Union Inc. v. ExxonMobil Research &
Engineering Co., the Company argued that arbitration was
inappropriate. A New Jersey District Court judge disagreed, holding
that the grievances seeking compensation for travel time to/from
job-related conferences did fall under the
