By Dr. Denise Martin, Dr. Stephanie Plancich,
and Janeen McIntosh1
Introduction
In wage and hour litigation, current and/or former employees
allege unpaid work, including unpaid overtime, failure to provide
meals and/or rest breaks, and off-the-clock work. Cases may be
brought under state law or under the Federal Fair Labor Standards
Act (FLSA). These cases may result in civil settlements or
verdicts, as well as in back wages and penalties levied by the
Department of Labor (DOL).
In this study, we track trends in civil settlements of wage and
hour cases. We found that, in 2012, companies continued to pay
substantial amounts to settle lawsuits involving allegations of
wage and hour violations. We identified total wage and hour
settlement payments of $467 million in 2012, bringing the aggregate
amount paid over the past six years to approximately $2.7 billion.
A relatively steady number of identified cases settled before trial
each year, with 102 in 2012 and a
