LinkedIn, the social networking site that is supposed to help users find new places to work, is now in trouble with its own employees. After a U.S. Labor Department investigation found that it was short-changing employees, the company agreed to pay $6 million to 359 employees in four states.
The Labor Department said that LinkedIn had violated the Fair Labor Standards Act’s provisions for overtime and keeping records. When notified, LinkedIn agreed to cooperate and pay employees in New York, Nebraska, Illinois and California, where the company is based.
The settlement breaks down to $3,346,195 in unpaid overtime and $2,509,646 in liquidated damages.
Susana Blanco, of the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division’s San Francisco office, said in a statement that, “‘Off the clock’ hours are all too common for the American worker” and hurt workers by denying them payment for work that keeps them from their families.
“We urge all employers, large and small, to review their pay practices to ensure employees know their basic workplace rights and that the commitment to compliance works through all levels of the organization,” Blanco stated. “The department is committed to protecting the rights of workers and leveling the playing field for all law-abiding employers.”
According to Bloomberg, LinkedIn did release its own statement on the situation, blaming the problem on a lack of tools to properly track worked hours. “...Prior to the Labor Department approaching us, we have already begun to remedy this,” LinkedIn said.
While the number of Fair Labor Standards Act cases like these filed since 2000, pro-labor activists still suggest that the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour division is too small and not doing enough, notes Bloomberg.