Wage & Hour Disputes
Compliance with federal and state wage and hour laws continues to challenge employers, and the number of federal wage and hour lawsuits filed under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and similar state laws has skyrocketed.
The resulting class and collective action litigation involves challenges to almost every aspect of employee compensation practices and is aggressively pursued by plaintiffs’ attorneys.
Vinson & Elkins attorneys combine a deep understanding of wage and labor practices with the broad experience of defending high-stakes class actions and complex multi-district litigation across the country. Our team regularly defends complex wage and hour litigation, including collective actions, involving almost every aspect of the law, such as claims of misclassification, off-the-clock work, improper calculation of overtime, and improper use of independent contractors.
In addition, we work closely with clients to prevent litigation and proactively evaluate compliance with a comprehensive set of risk-mitigation tools, such as pay-practice audits, policy development and review, and employee training.
Experience Highlights
(S.D. Tex.) – Representing a major Oilfield Services company in defending numerous putative collective and class actions, as well as individual claims, primarily alleging misclassification of employees who provide specialized services in the field. Several claims have been dismissed, some have been settled on a favorable basis, and others remain pending
Represented distributor of consumables in DOL wage and hour investigation, advised with respect to wage and hour matters, and obtained closure with no penalties assessed
(E.D. Tex.; W.D. Tex.) – Represented an Oil and Gas Equipment and Services company in a putative collective action alleging that engineers and/or specialists were improperly classified as exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and thus entitled to significant amounts of overtime pay; and that operators receiving allegedly non-discretionary bonuses had their overtime pay improperly calculated. This matter was settled on confidential terms without a class being certified
(S.D. Tex.) – Representing an Oil and Gas Equipment and Services company in a putative collective action alleging improper classification under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and that operators receiving allegedly non-discretionary bonuses had their overtime pay improperly calculated
(S.D. Tex.) – Representing an Oil and Gas Equipment and Services company in litigation brought by approximately 400 employees asserting claims of improper payment of overtime wages arising from incentive bonuses
(S.D. Tex.) – Representing an Oilfield Services company in multiple putative collective actions involving allegations of miscalculation of overtime; successfully enforced employer’s dispute resolution program, requiring employees to arbitrate cases on an individual, rather than collective, basis
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