Wage & Hour Compliance Litigation
Contact: Elizabeth Wells Skaggs
Compliance with federal and state wage and hour laws and associated governmental regulations is a challenging component of labor and employment law. The laws and regulations are rigid and complex and in many cases counter-intuitive and unfair. In recent years, wage and hour litigation has become a lucrative claim. Not only do federal and state wage and hour laws provide for the payment of attorney fees to a prevailing plaintiff, but the statutes also include interest and double-damages provisions for any unpaid wages or overtime pay that are owed. Because nearly all employers have some wage and hour violations, the pickings are ripe for plaintiffs and plaintiffs' attorneys. As a result, collective actions under wage and hour statutes are now the number one class action filed in state and federal courts.
Varnum represents a wide range of employers with respect to wage and hour matters, including publicly traded corporations, private employers and public employers. Varnum's wage and hour attorneys are recognized authorities and frequent instructors on wage and hour law. Varnum assists employers with (1) pre-litigation compliance, (2) response to and defense of wage and hour investigations by state and federal departments of labor, and (3) litigation defense in state and federal court.
Varnum's compliance and administrative defense team, led by James Stadler, advises employers with respect to wage and hour compliance, and defend employers against wage and hour claims filed with state and federal departments of labor. Varnum's wage and hour litigation defense team consists of Peter Smit, Joe Vogan and Elizabeth Skaggs. Varnum's wage and hour defense team is experienced in the defense of both individual and collective actions in state and federal courts throughout the United States.