Workers suing employers over hours, pay since recession

More American workers, citing federal and state wage and hour laws, have sued their employers since the recession peaked four years ago, a shift that some observers say is partly attributable to a working environment where employees put in longer hours but got paid the same or less.

Lawsuits against employers by employees increased 32 percent from 2008 to last year, and workers’ big issue was putting in more than 40 hours a week on the job and  not getting overtime, according to a story in USA Today.

Employees said employers forced them to work off the clock, improperly classified them as exempt from receiving overtime pay, and used technology to make them work during their time away from the office.

Employers didn’t hire more workers during the downturn, one expert said, because they were able to shift the cost burdens to employees. If they hadn’t been able to do that, they would have hired more people.