U.S. Department of Labor has determined that LinkedIn did not appropriately compensate employees in a variety of states for overtime hours. According to a Labor Department announcement, the company will pay out approximately $6 million in unpaid overtime wages as well as damages to current and former employees in California, Illinois, Nebraska and New York.
LinkedIn, the largest professional social-networking company in the world, is also putting money towards compliance training for its workforce regarding company wage policies to prevent future overtime pay issues. Per the government agency, LinkedIn failed to record and pay for all hours in a workweek for 359 employees, and the company also failed to reimburse their staff for overtime pay.
The company stated that it was aware of the issues and was working on them before being approached by the Labor Department and said that they cooperated fully to ensure that all employees were appropriately compensated. A LinkedIn representative also stated that the issues arose from employees not having access to appropriate tools and managers failing to track hours accurately. The majority of the affected employees were in the sales department, and they were reimbursed in the second quarter.
If someone feels that they are not being compensated appropriately for their time, an employment law attorney may be able to assist them in understanding their rights and determining what actions are available to them. In addition to the wages that were owed but not paid, individuals may also be able to seek damages, and an attorney may be able to assist them in pursuing legal action to obtain compensation appropriate to their circumstances.
Source: Business Week, “LinkedIn Pays $6 Million for Unpaid Overtime, Damages”, Sarah Frier, August 04, 2014