Harris Beach attorneys counsel employers on wage and hour compliance issues, such as compliance with federal and state minimum wage and overtime laws and regulations, hours worked, proper and improper deductions from pay, and required meal periods. We provide preventive legal advice and customized training upon request for all levels of management, including training for supervisors who must be aware of legal requirements in their day-to-day activities.

Today’s increased regulatory scrutiny on employee misclassification can have costly implications for employers who may become subject to liability through federal and state Department of Labor-initiated investigations and/or lawsuits, and individual and class action lawsuits alleging misclassification. We routinely assist clients in determining whether positions are properly classified as exempt from federal and/or state minimum wage and/ or overtime requirements, by performing job description reviews and speaking with direct line supervisors. We also perform larger-scale audits to identify and help our clients proactively correct potentially misclassified positions. This can provide a good-faith defense should claims later arise.

Harris Beach guides employers through U.S. Department of Labor and New York State Labor Law audits, investigations and enforcement proceedings. This includes FLSA matters involving minimum wage, overtime, equal pay and recordkeeping, as well as Davis-Bacon Act and Service Contract Act matters.

Our litigators have a strong track record of successfully defending employers in wage and hour related class and collective actions, and individual lawsuits in federal and state courts. Our representative litigation defense experience includes achieving a favorable settlement for a Fortune 500 retail industry client in a national 120,000-member class action lawsuit, as well as achieving positive outcomes, including summary judgments, in wage and hour class action claims for clients as diverse as automotive dealers, customer contact centers, hospitals, schools, restaurants, collection agencies and security providers.

We defend employers with nationwide and multi-state operations in claims alleging overtime pay violations, missed/ unpaid meal and break periods, misclassification of workers, failure to include all payments in calculating the minimum wage, off-the-clock work, failure to calculate the “regular rate” for overtime purposes, prevailing wage violations and other wage and hour issues. In this environment, electronic discovery (e-discovery) has become a significant cost component of government investigations and litigation such as class and collective action wage and hour disputes. It is also an area fraught with risk since sanctions and claims of spoliation are now common in large litigation cases. As a law firm with state-of-the-art technology, Harris Beach is well positioned to meet the defensibility and cost challenges associated with e-discovery. Our e-discovery practice, branded e-info℠, leverages predictive-coding to make the use of e-discovery reasonable for any litigation, regardless of size or industry. Harris Beach has routinely been named as a “Go To” law firm for litigation e-discovery in the In House Law Departments at the Top 500 Companies as published by Corporate Counsel.

A controversial or crisis situation such as a class action lawsuit or government investigation related to an employer’s wage and hour practices can expose an organization and its stakeholders to significant public and media attention with potentially damaging consequences to its image, brand and internal morale. Harris Beach serves employers as a resource for effective communications strategies when highly controversial situations or challenging communications issues arise. We have public relations professionals on staff who have handled a variety of high-profile incidents that have drawn national and international media attention. We conduct media outreach on behalf of clients upon request and arrange interviews; organize press conferences; assess situations to determine the best approach for handling media inquiries; draft media statements, press releases, and internal communications; prepare spokespeople with key message points to all constituencies; and conduct media training. Our communications professionals and attorneys also help employers develop and roll-out related internal communications that reflect the legal strategy and compliance considerations.

Harris Beach attorneys assist employers with the development and review of employee handbooks and manuals. We regularly review and update our clients’ personnel policies and procedures upon request to verify compliance with emerging wage and hour related laws and regulations.

Construction projects involving public agencies identified under New York State Labor Law Section 220 are subject to state prevailing wage laws and may also be subject to the federal Davis-Bacon Act and related acts. Additionally, construction projects involving private entities may be subject to the Davis-Bacon Act if they are receiving federal assistance. As part of our wage and hour practice, we counsel employers on prevailing wage and supplemental benefits requirements. We help employers determine if their projects are subject to federal or state prevailing wage law, determine appropriate applicable wage orders/ schedules, verify compliance with recordkeeping requirements, and apply for wage conformances when necessary. We also counsel employers with respect to the Service Contract Act and Article 9 of New York State Labor Law. Our multi-disciplinary approach and depth of practice can benefit public agency projects by delivering construction counsel, bond counsel, and prevailing wage and supplemental benefits counsel in an integrated, informed and efficient manner.

The interplay between wage and hour laws and collective bargaining is often overlooked. Our attorneys’ knowledge of, and experience with, federal and state wage and hour laws, rules, regulations and practices allows us to assist our clients at the bargaining table and in disputes involving pay practices under Collective Bargaining Agreements and/or before agencies such as the National Labor Relations Board and the Public Employment Relations Board.