As the FLSA landscape continues to evolve, Seyfarth's national Wage and Hour Litigation practice group is pleased to share our observations and analysis of the 2023 FLSA litigation trends as well as our forward-looking predictions for 2024.
Wage and hour litigation and enforcement actions continued as a hot-button concern in 2023, as plaintiffs' lawyers advanced novel and creative claims and Supreme Court and appellate-level battles took place over long-accepted standards—for exempt status, collective action certification, and the arbitrability of certain wage and hour cases. And pay laws remained in flux, as local, state, and federal legislatures and agencies quarreled over everything from minimum wages, to questions of who is an employee and who not, and—further—to rules around the disclosure and frequency of employee pay. Remarkably, against this backdrop, the number of cases filed nationally under the FLSA reduced marginally compared to 2022, falling to its lowest since the peak in 2015. For 2024, we predict that the mix of wage and hour litigation and enforcement actions will remain varied. With ongoing government rulemaking on various regulations, and especially given that 2024 is an election year, when candidates on both sides will use wages as a lightning rod, we also speculate that we will see another increase to the number of suits filed nationally.
Access the flipbook here:
2023 FLSA Litigation Metrics & Trends (seyfarth.com)
We hope our analysis is of assistance to you and/or your colleagues. Should you have any questions or comments, please reach out to your Seyfarth attorney.
Brett Bartlett and Noah Finkel, are co-chairs of Seyfarth's Wage & Hour Litigation Practice Group.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.