contractor success Are You Due For A Wage And Hour By: Bill Pokorny CHECKUP? Avoiding these four ills can help you beat the litigious culture of today. I If you’ve not yet endured a government audit or lawsuit relating to overtime or minimum wage violations, count yourself among the lucky. And, get ready, because your luck could easily run out. Last fall, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released its Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2011-2016, which outlines the various enforcement priorities for the next several years. According to the plan, the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division will be focusing its enforcement resources on three industries that the agency regards as “high risk” for wage and hour violations — including the janitorial industry. Independently, plaintiffs’ lawyers have increasingly realized that wage and hour lawsuits represent a potentially huge source of revenue. The number of lawsuits under the Fair Labor Standards Act — the federal law gov-erning minimum wage and overtime — filed in federal courts has more than tripled over the last decade, from just 1,920 cases in 2000 to 6,864 cases in 2010. These figures don’t include lawsuits filed in state court or complaints to state or fed-eral administrative agencies. The growth in government enforcement activity at the federal level is a product of politics — specifically, the transition from the Bush era to the Obama administration. The growth in lawsuits, on the other hand, is a matter of simple economics. While the amount at stake in any individu-al overtime or minimum wage claim may be small, employer mistakes in this area tend to affect not just individuals, but entire groups of employees. That makes them ideal fodder for class Circle Product Information no. 219 on page 32 46 CM/Cleaning & Maintenance Management ® • October 2011
CMM – Archives Oct 2011: 46
