Employee Rights and Employment Policy Journal

Litigation of Wage and Hour Collective Actions Under the Fair Labor Standards Act

By
David Borgen and Laura L. Ho

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a substantial increase in large scale wage and hour litigation brought under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 ("FLSA"). While class actions are not permitted under the FLSA, employees may bring their claims by means of the Act's collective action procedures. Private enforcement of the FLSA through the collective action procedure has been so successful that the United States Department of Labor has sought to change the underlying substantive rules controlling the white-collar exemptions from overtime wage obligations. This article describes the development of the collective action as a means of private FLSA enforcement and the issues that have arisen in implementing these procedures.