Overview

Berger Montague’s Employment & Unpaid Wages Group protects employees’ rights to minimum wage and overtime compensation under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and state wage and hour laws.

Berger Montague’s Employment & Unpaid Wages Group protects employees’ rights to minimum wage and overtime compensation under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and state wage and hour laws.

Unfortunately, wage and hour violations are prevalent in America today. These violations can be willful or sometimes are the result of reckless or careless bookkeeping or accounting practices. Employees work hard and are entitled to the wages they earn. They are also entitled to the protections of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and related state laws which protect their right to minimum wage and overtime compensation. When employers engage in illegal wage and hour violations, which can affect hundreds or thousands of employees at a time, Berger Montague’s Employment & Unpaid Wages Group is available for legal representation. Over the last ten years, lawsuits alleging the failure to pay overtime under the FLSA have become the most common type of employment class action or collective action filed in the federal court system.

Berger Montague’s Employment & Unpaid Wages Group has the skill, reputation and experience to navigate the complexities presented by wage and hour cases in federal and state courts across the United States. Our attorneys have successfully settled claims totaling many millions of dollars on behalf of tens of thousands of employees. These include claims alleging the misclassification of workers’ exempt status; overtime and minimum wage violations; “off the clock” work; inaccurate time and payroll records; time-clock rounding practices; and other wage and hour issues. Berger Montague is regularly appointed as lead or co-lead counsel in such cases, and has represented classes of employees in some of the largest wage and hour lawsuits in the last ten years. For example, our Employment & Unpaid Wages Group has represented classes of employees at meat and poultry plants, at school bus companies, at call centers, at courier companies, at fast food restaurants, in white collar jobs, and in federal and state governments.

Common wage and hour violations include, for example:

  • Misclassification of employees as exempt from overtime;
  • Misclassification of workers as independent contractors rather than employees;
  • Improper compensation for all hours worked by non-exempt employees, including activities at the start and the end of the workday (such as donning and doffing personal protective equipment) and tasks performed away from the workplace;
  • Improper calculation of overtime;
  • Failure to pay for work performed during meal and rest periods;
  • Improper use of the fluctuating workweek method of payment;
  • Improper timekeeping and recordkeeping procedures such as altering or changing time cards or “time shaving;” and
  • Employer retaliation against employees for asserting their legal rights.

Berger Montague’s Employment & Unpaid Wages Group is familiar with the types of wage and hour failure to pay minimum wage or overtime compensation schemes like those described above and has the experience and resources necessary to investigate and pursue virtually any type of class action or collective action wage and hour case.

No Fees Without Recovery

Berger Montague employment cases are often litigated on a contingent fee basis, so plaintiffs and the class do not pay attorneys’ fees or court costs unless there is a recovery.

Contact Us To Learn More

We invite you to learn more about our Employment & Unpaid Wages Group. Berger Montague welcomes referrals from other law firms and attorneys. For more information or to schedule a confidential discussion about a potential case, please fill out the contact form on the right, email us at [email protected], or contact shareholder Shanon Carson at (215) 875-4656. We are available to evaluate potential employment cases without charge.

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