LinkedIn employees to be compensated for unpaid wages

On Behalf of | Aug 8, 2014 | Employment Law

Wisconsin employees will probably be interested to learn that LinkedIn has agreed to pay almost $6 million in back wages and damages to 359 of its employees in California, New York, Nebraska and Illinois. The payments, which average a little more than $16,000 per employee, are designed to compensate the employees for unpaid overtime, according to a statement issued Aug. 4, 2014, by the U.S. Department of Labor.

A spokesperson for LinkedIn said that the Mountain View, California, company was eager to work with the Labor Department to resolve the situation because its number one priority is talent. According to the Labor Department, LinkedIn failed to record all the regular and overtime hours that employees were working. The $5.86 million payment is a combination of $3.35 million for unpaid wages and overtime plus $2.51 million in damages. Additionally, LinkedIn will distribute its policy concerning wages and overtime and provide compliance training.

LinkedIn was founded in 2002 and earns a significant portion of its revenue through fees that employers pay to find qualified job candidates among LinkedIn’s more than 300 million members. LinkedIn employees total about 5,700, with many of those in the San Francisco area. Although LinkedIn shares rose slightly on the day of the report, they are down almost 7 percent for the year.

A district director for the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division in San Francisco said that the department urges all employers, regardless of size, to review their policies concerning wage and salary and to make sure that employees know their rights. Anyone who believes that their employee rights have been violated may want to discuss their situation with an attorney who has experience in employment law and wage claims.

Source: BloombergBusinessweek, “LinkedIn Pays $6 Million for Unpaid Overtime, Damages”, Sarah Frier , August 04, 2014

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