off the clock

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Ascertaining the actual “hours worked” by a plaintiff alleging uncompensated working time is one of a factfinder’s most thankless tasks, requiring the judge or jury to apply prevailing law regarding what constitutes compensable “work” to conflicting testimony regarding when, where and how the plaintiff performed that work, and how much work the plaintiff performed. Such determinations…

The proliferation of FLSA lawsuits brought by “non-exempt” employees for alleged uncompensated working time has highlighted several important FLSA questions. One prominent and thorny question concerns when and how an employer is deemed to have constructive knowledge of work allegedly performed by an employee, such that the employer will be deemed to have “suffered or permitted&rdquo…

Courts continue to analyze the compensability of preliminary and postliminary time: time spent before or after a non-exempt employee’s shift on certain tasks related to the performance of the employee’s job. Many suits allege the time spent “donning and doffing” of personal protective equipment (“PPE”) related to dangerous work environments (slaughter houses, power plants, etc.) must…

While this space frequently discusses decisions adjudicating the merits of FLSA plaintiffs’ “off-the-clock” claims, allegations that employees were not compensated for all hours worked, FLSA collective action litigation often does not reach this merits stage of the proceeding. Frequently, courts first review plaintiffs’ claims in the context of determining whether FLSA plaintiffs are “similarly situated&rdquo…

The ubiquity of class and collective action lawsuits under the FLSA and state wage and hour laws requires employers to remain ever vigilant with respect to their wage practices. The ferocity of the plaintiffs’ bar is such that even seemingly settled FLSA doctrine is subject to attack. Recently, a federal district court in Illinois rejected one such…

Reinforcing the importance of properly crafted and enforced work-time tracking policies, Judge  Michael Telesca of the Western District of New York recently dismissed the balance of a plaintiff’s claims in a lawsuit alleging failure to compensate non-exempt employees for all overtime hours. The Court based its decision on the employer’s strong time tracking policies and protocols. …