Butler Williams & Skilling Blog

Wal-Mart Settles Wage and Hour Lawsuit

According to a recent Seattle Times article, Wal-Mart is set to pay current and former employees in Washington State $35,000,000.00 to settle claims that they were forced to work "off the clock” and/or skip required rest periods.  Per the article, Wal-Mart faced as many as 63 U.S. lawsuits all alleging violations of wage and hour laws and the Washington settlement is part of their $640,000,000.00 plan to resolve that litigation. 

Recovery for the Washington litigants looks to be limited to around $950.00 at the high end so it is not a great deal of money for each individual claimant, however at larger companies like Wal-Mart it would be unlikely that a pay practice would only apply to just a few employees.  For example, the article puts the total number of owed employees in Washington State alone at 88,000.  In suits like this, often called collective actions, the general maxim of strength in numbers absolutely holds true. 

Wage and hour laws can be violated in any number of ways.  Employees who are forced to skip rest periods, employees who are not paid overtime, and employees who are forced to work “off the clock” all may have recourse against their employers under federal and state law. With regard overtime, many are under the misconception that just because they are paid a salary or because they are paid by commission that they cannot be entitled to overtime when in fact the opposite is true.  Eligibility for overtime has nothing to do with job title or pay practice and relies far more heavily on job duties.