CLE Presentation: Bob Kaiser, Litigation Partner at Armstrong Teasdale The choice of a lawyer is an important decision and should not be based solely on this presentation. All rights are reserved and content may not be reproduced, disseminated or transferred, in any form or by means, except with the prior written consent of Armstrong Teasdale.

1. © 2013 Armstrong Teasdale LLP

2. Trends in Wage and Hour Claims
Presented by:
Bob Kaiser
© 2013 Armstrong Teasdale LLP

3. Wage and Hour Claims Continue to Explode
 About 115 million employees — 86 percent of the workforce — are covered
by federal overtime rules
 There were 7,064 federal wage-and-hour cases filed during the 12 months
ending March 31, 2012, a number that has grown almost every year since
2000.
 The Obama administration has made enforcing wage laws a priority,
adding 300 wage and hour investigators for a total of more than 1,000.
 Last year we reported:
 Employers paid out nearly $176 million in back wages for minimum wage
and overtime claims as a result of federal wage and hour law violations in
fiscal 2010.
 This year we can report that the DOL collected $224.8 million in back
wages in 2011
© 2013 Armstrong Teasdale LLP

4. Missouri Minimum Wage Increases in 2013
 The Missouri Minimum wage went up 10 cents to $7.35
effective January 1. 2013 (tipped employees will receive at
least $3.675 an hour).
© 2013 Armstrong Teasdale LLP

5. Wage and Hour Claims is a Billion
Dollar Business
 Reasonable estimates for the last few years indicate that
companies have collectively paid out more than $1 billion
annually to resolve these claims. That’s
$1,000,000,000
per year
© 2013 Armstrong Teasdale LLP

6. What’s Pushing the Explosion
 When jobs are plentiful, unhappy employees tend to move.
 Today many employees feel stuck and wage and hour
litigation is a way for a group of employees to try to get more
money without "personally" attacking their employer.
© 2013 Armstrong Teasdale LLP

7. Plaintiff’s Attorneys See Business Opportunity
 Unhappy former employees are a goldmine for Plaintiffs’
attorneys
 "Ninety-five percent of our wage and hour cases are a result
of someone coming to us complaining about something else.
I can't tell you how many people have come into our office
with employment disputes that are meritless and would be
thrown out of court and walk out with an FLSA claim."
© 2013 Armstrong Teasdale LLP

8. Misclassification Claims:
The employee claims that they were misclassified as exempt
from overtime, when the nature of their job was such that they
should have been treated as non-exempt and paid overtime.
Misclassification cases often arise because of the complex rules
regarding exemption for certain categories of workers,
including administrative employees and computer personnel.
It’s not always easy to analyze the precise work being
performed by each employee in these and other categories
against the legal test established for determining when
workers in such categories are exempt and when they are not.
© 2013 Armstrong Teasdale LLP

9. Off-the-Clock Claims:
 Off-the-clock claims relate to situations when an employer
forces, pressures, or even allows workers to work outside of
hours that are not clocked in.
© 2013 Armstrong Teasdale LLP

10. Steps That Employers Can Take Include:
 Audit the exempt classifications of the workforce periodically to
ensure that employees are properly classified as exempt or non-
exempt
 Audit payroll practices periodically to ensure that you are tracking
time and paying correctly.
 If you ever have a situation where you need to alter an employee
time record to reduce the time, get the employee to sign off on the
change.
 Implement a safe harbor policy that communicates your intention
to avoid improper deductions and requires employees to notify the
employer of improper deductions with assurances that improper
deductions will be reimbursed;
© 2013 Armstrong Teasdale LLP

11. Steps That Employers Can Take Include:
 Ensure that record-keeping policies are intact so that you maintain the
appropriate documents, either on paper or electronically, to substantiate
classification and payroll practices;
 Train management-level and supervisory employees regarding
compensable off-the-clock activities, proper deductions for disciplinary
violations and enforcement of overtime policies, and how to handle
complaints from employees about their pay.
 Consult an experienced employment attorney before making wide-scale
changes to any overtime classification, payroll practice or wage and hour
policy.
 When terminating an employee, make sure you have paid him or her
properly for all time worked.
© 2013 Armstrong Teasdale LLP

12. Contact Information
Bob Kaiser
rkaiser@armstrongteasdale.com
314.621.5070
© 2013 Armstrong Teasdale LLP