There are few firms that can match the depth of experience Hunton’s lawyers have in defending wage and hour class and collective actions and in managing the multimillion-dollar risks these cases present. We are proud to have the distinction of being included in a select group of attorneys in the country who have tried complex representative proof cases to jury verdicts, and we have a long track record of trial and appellate court victories in complex wage and hour cases across the country. We have defended virtually every substantive wage and hour claim brought under federal and state law, including cases alleging improper exemption classification, “off-the-clock” work, meal and rest period violations, unlawful deductions, “waiting time penalties,” wage statement violations, “one day’s rest in seven” violations, “fluctuating workweek” violations, failing to compensate for “donning and doffing” activities and Private Attorney General Act claims. We have formed strategic partnerships with leading labor economists and consultants to design employment and payroll data analyses to assist our clients, and we leverage our technology resources to simplify and reduce costs associated with document- and data-intensive class cases. We also have extensive experience working with clients on wage and hour remediation plans and advising our clients on reducing litigation risks.

Our representative experience includes:

• Defended over one hundred class and collective actions for clients in retail, casual dining, financial services, hospitality, professional services, energy, manufacturing, food processing, pharmaceutical, and logistics and transportation industries.
• Lead counsel in six collective action and wage and hour class actions involving “donning and doffing” and “off the clock work” claims tried to jury using representative proof in various federal courts around the country.
• Defending multiple nationwide FLSA collective actions and statewide wage and hour class actions presenting overtime misclassification claims.
• Lead counsel in a national FLSA collective action presenting first impression "tip pooling" claims — after 98 percent of the national class was decertified, the claims of the remaining opt-in plaintiffs were adjudicated at a representative proof jury trial (Fifth Circuit and Southern District of Texas).
• Defending multiple statewide class actions presenting meal period and rest break claims
• Defended dozens of California representative PAGA claims, including obtaining dismissals in many cases based on exhaustion, manageability, and ascertainability grounds.