Each year the number of wage and hour lawsuits grows. According to the latest statistics released by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, there were approximately 8,781 Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) cases filed in 2015. This was a 7.6 percent increase over the previous 12-month period. Indeed, since 2000, the number of wage and hour filings in federal court has increased by more than 450 percent. Even more disturbing is the fact that employers paid approximately $400 million in 2014 (the last year such statistics are available) alone to settle wage and hour lawsuits, with an average payment of $5.3 million per employer, according to the consulting firm NERA Economic Consulting. Employers have paid over $3.6 billion since 2007 to settle wage and hour lawsuits.
Today, wage and hour lawsuits represent the largest category of employment-related class action filings. No single factor has driven this rise. However, the economic downturn coupled with an anemic recovery, increased focus on the minimum wage, high profile victories for plaintiffs’ attorneys, an increasing number of regulations, uncertainty over applying the 77-year old FLSA to modern employment practices, and an overall increase in class action lawsuits have all helped drive the rise in wage and hour filings.