Wage & Hour Collective & Class Litigation

“Given the recent explosion of wage and hour litigation, both management and plaintiffside attorneys will find this publication to be an invaluable reference. With its painstaking attention to the law and procedure, this treatise will certainly be the goto resource when practitioners ponder questions of strategy and substance in the context of wage and hour cases.” — The Honorable Elaine L. Chao, 24th U.S. Secretary of Labor (20012009) Wage and hour litigation continues to proliferate, carrying with it the risk of potentially exorbitant damage awards. Written from the defense perspective, Wage & Hour Collective and Class Litigation covers every step of a case, from complaint to certification, trial, verdict, settlement or dismissal. It's the first and only publication focusing exclusively on this growing area of practice and provides a vital weapon for employers. This comprehensive, uptodate guide discusses how employers are targeted and the substantive, procedural and practical considerations that determine the outcome of wage and hour cases in todays courts. It includes analysis of the complex rules surrounding all types of wage and hour lawsuits: claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), claims under state wage and hour laws, “hybrid” cases involving both, and special issues involving government contractors. It explains how to proceed upon receipt of a wage and hour claim, how to assess the merits of the claim, whether to settle, how to oppose plaintiffs' motion for conditional certification and to facilitate notice, what the best affirmative defenses are, and how to tilt the odds in the defense's favor. Though designed to assist defense lawyers, this companion to highstakes litigation will also prove useful to inhouse counsel not involved in litigation, to plaintiffs' lawyers seeking analysis from the viewpoint of opposing counsel, and to any attorney developing an interest in this robust field of law.