You Wanna Sue Your Employer for Overtime? The Labor Department Has an App for That!
Client Alert | 1 min read | 05.17.11
On May 9, 2011, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced a free smartphone application designed to help employees independently track hours worked. In what is apparently a regulatory "first," the app is being co-marketed with Apple and available on iTunes The app allows users to enter hours worked either manually or automatically using a timer, and to both view and e-mail reports of time worked. The app also includes a prominent "contact us" button, with links that allow users to easily call or send an e-mail to the DOL's Wage & Hour Division. The app only permits recordation of basic overtime calculations, and does not handle items such as tips, commissions, bonuses, deductions, holiday pay, or shift differentials. Nothing in the app requires correlation of information recorded against the employer's timekeeping system.
In addition to providing valuable information for a Wage Hour division investigation, the app gives employees (and plaintiffs' lawyers) the ability to create contemporaneous records of time worked. In cases where employer time records are alleged to be incomplete, such records can give plaintiffs a significant boost in proving damages, particularly in collective and class actions. As lower courts continue to struggle over the proper interpretation of the Supreme Court's 1946 decision in Anderson v. Mt. Clemens Property, the accuracy of employee recollections of hours worked has become an increasingly important issue in litigating these cases. For employers, this initiative reinforces the importance of making sure accurate timekeeping records are maintained for all non-exempt employees.
Contacts
Insights
Client Alert | 8 min read | 09.09.25
On September 5, 2025, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) withdrew its appeals of decisions issued by Texas and Florida federal district courts, which enjoined the FTC from enforcing a nationwide rule banning almost all noncompete employment agreements. Companies, however, should not read this decision to mean that their noncompete agreements will no longer be subjected to antitrust scrutiny by federal enforcers. In a statement joined by Commissioner Melissa Holyoak, Chairman Andrew Ferguson stressed that the FTC “will continue to enforce the antitrust laws aggressively against noncompete agreements” and warned that “firms in industries plagued by thickets of noncompete agreements will receive [in the coming days] warning letters from me, urging them to consider abandoning those agreements as the Commission prepares investigations and enforcement actions.”
Client Alert | 12 min read | 09.09.25
Client Alert | 7 min read | 09.08.25
California’s Climate Disclosure Laws Continue to Roll Forward
Client Alert | 3 min read | 09.08.25
RADV Audits: Implications and Recommendations for Medicare Advantage Organizations
