Helms & Greene Employment Compensation

Compensation
Compliance with overtime compensation laws, both the Fair Labor Standards Act and comparable state laws, has become one of the primary areas of employer vulnerability. Individual, class, and collective actions claiming entitlement to overtime compensation are the fastest growing area of employment litigation. According to federal court filings, FLSA litigation grew 99.2% during calendar year 2002. We have devoted substantial attention to this issue, on a national basis, for nearly 20 years. We have handled or assisted in handling litigation and agency investigation from south Florida to California to New Hampshire and many locations in between. We maintain relationships with agency representatives in Washington, as well as in various Department of Labor district offices.

We have been called upon to assist many employers evaluate overtime exemption compliance status in a wide variety of industries. Our work has caused us to develop processes, tools, and process suggestions to improve those internal evaluations from an accuracy and cost-effectiveness perspective. We have also worked with clients to change employment classifications, introduce those changes to the work place, and minimize liabilities and costs associated with those compliance alterations. We have worked with a number of clients to reclassify, within a single organization, one thousand individuals or more. Much of our work here has been in connection with financial services, insurance, retail, technology and service sector organizations.

We also maintain electronic and hard copy libraries with published and unpublished authorities on these issues. For example, the Department of Labor issues unpublished opinion letters, which provide authoritative guidance concerning exemption determinations. Through Freedom of Information Act requests, we have obtained these opinion letters and we receive periodic updated opinion letters. This is yet another way we strive to provide more value for our clients.