Once upon a time, a seriously-alarmed legislature grew concerned
that wage-hour claims and litigation had gotten out-of-hand.
A series of court decisions had, among other things, broadly
expanded the scope of what counted as "hours
worked". As a result, the lawmakers observed, the
wage-hour law was "creating wholly unexpected liabilities,
immense in amount and retroactive in operation . . .."
Bad And Getting Worse . . .
These legislators were convinced that, if the status quo
persisted:
- "[T]he payment of such
liabilities would bring about financial ruin of many employers and
seriously impair the capital resources of many others, thereby
resulting in the reduction of industrial operations, halting of
expansion and development, curtailing employment, and the earning
power of employees;"
