Takeaway: This court decision illustrates that the purpose, express language and decades of judicial interpretation of the Fair Labor Standards Act all weigh heavily in favor of ensuring that employees are properly compensated for time worked. Appellate court deference to jury findings further demonstrates that employers face high hurdles in defending unpaid wage claims. Reliance on automated systems to document work hours may not be sufficient. Scrupulous attention to and periodic audits of all practices involving employees' timekeeping and pay are essential.

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), an employer must pay for all work it knows about or requires, even if the employee does not specifically request compensation for it, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently held.

Whether an employee reports overtime work often will be relevant to an employer's knowledge of the work. But allowing—or even requiring—employees to report overtime work does not absolve employers of the obligation to compensate for work they permit.

In a class-action lawsuit, a group of emergency medical technicians and paramedics (EMTs) won a multimillion-dollar verdict against their employer—the government of New York City—for unpaid overtime wages. The 2,519 employees alleged that the city required them to perform work before and after their shifts but paid them for that time only if they requested it. The jury agreed and found that the city's failure to pay for work it required was a...

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