Overtime Lawsuits At Near Record High Levels

Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (“TRAC”), a research center established in 1989 to obtain detailed information regarding various filings at federal agencies, recently released data concerning the number of overtime lawsuits filed in 2015 under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). Per the study, TRAC projects that a total of 8,820 FLSA lawsuits will be filed in 2015. Filings in August are up 14.7% from a year ago and 20.5% from August 2010. The Southern District of Texas, which includes the Houston metro area and the Rio Grande Valley, has had the seventh highest per capita volume of filings this year. The Southern District of Florida remains the most active area per capita in the nation. Filings appear to be increasing as more workers gain awareness about their potential overtime rights. This includes significant press related President Obama’s call to increase the federal minimum wage. A full copy of the TRAC report can be found here: http://trac.syr.edu/tracreports/civil/404/

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