If you’re in a position where your employer isn’t paying you the wages or commissions that you’re due, I’m sorry.  That’s frustrating, and wrong.  You probably depend on your wages and commissions to make a living and bills don’t take a break because your employer won’t pay.

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In a win for employees, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to review an award to a class of plaintiffs against Wal-Mart Stores, Inc for denial of rest breaks to hundreds of thousands of employees.

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Approximately one year ago, the Mayor of Minneapolis, Mayor Betsy Hodges, unveiled her plan to address sick leave, scheduling, and wage theft issues in Minneapolis. In December, a 19-member group called the Workplace Regulations Partnership Group began meeting with each other and members of the public to construct an ordinance that would require employers located in Minneapolis to pay employees for days the employee is required to miss work either because the employee is sick or a member of the employee’s family is sick. The Group is made up of workers, organized labor representatives, employers, and representatives of business groups. Since December, the Group has held 14 listening sessions – sessions designed to get input from local businessowners and employees.

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Retail giant Wal-Mart is being sued by a group of former employee pharmacists who say they were required to work outside the stores but were not paid for that work. In an amended complaint filed a few weeks ago, the former employees argue that they were required to study and take immunization training at home but were not paid for that time.

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On March 11, 2015, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California handed down opinions in Cotter v. Lyft, Inc., and O’Connor v. Uber Technologies, Inc. The opinions, which represent at least a temporary win for the drivers who brought suit, highlight the ever-increasing difficulties relating to the classification of employees pursuant to wage and hour law. The two class actions by current and former drivers for Lyft and Uber allege that the companies inappropriately classify them as independent contractors rather than employees.  The courts denied motions by Uber and Lyft to have the cases thrown out of court, ruling that whether the drivers must be considered employees by law is a question of fact to be resolved at trial.

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The most recent in a string of such lawsuits, a former Marc Jacobs intern has initiated a class action lawsuit against the fashion designer for failing to pay interns proper minimum wage and overtime wage rates.  Plaintiff Linney Warren sued Marc Jacobs alleging that she often worked 70-hour weeks in May, fetching coffee, moving raw materials between studios, sorting fabrics, fixing patterns, and sewing. Other companies recently hit with similar lawsuits include Fox Entertainment, Lions Gate Entertainment, Coach, and more.

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Lessors, Inc. is a national trucking company based in Eagan, Minnesota.  On October 16, 2013, on behalf of current and former Lessors employees, Madia Law filed a class and collective action wage and hour lawsuit against Lessors in United States District Court. The plaintiffs, on behalf of themselves and other employees, allege that Lessors has purposely denied employees overtime pay.

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Madia Law filed a class and collective action lawsuit in February against Regency Beauty Institute (a national for-profit cosmetology school) on behalf of current and former employees in Regency’s Admissions Department seeking unpaid overtime wages.  On July 15, U.S. District Court Judge Donovan Frank granted Plaintiffs’ Motion for Conditional Class Certification

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A bipartisan unanimous vote by the Minnesota House of Representatives and a near unanimous vote by the Minnesota Senate resulted in a major victory for employees.  The recent amendments to the Minnesota Payment of Wages Act, signed into law by Governor Mark Dayton, clarified the ability of employees to recover unpaid wages. The amendments help to protect employees’ rights all throughout Minnesota.

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Madia Law represented “Laura” – a physician’s assistant who was hired by a medical clinic that found Laura through a recruiting agency.  After hiring Laura, the clinic began making deductions from her checks to cover the “recruitment fee” that it paid the agency to find Laura.  In total, the clinic deducted close to $30,000 from Laura’s wages to recover its recruitment costs.

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One of Minnesota’s largest law firms filed a class action lawsuit against a Minneapolis small business, alleging violations of the Minnesota Fair Labor Standards Act and Payment of Wages Act.  The firm sought over $2,000,000 in damages and refused to settle for anything less, apparently hoping that the costs of litigation would force the small business to settle the case.

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