Wage and hour litigation isn’t letting up, and the latest data puts a clear dollar figure on just how much FLSA lawsuits can cost employers.
A new report from Seyfarth Shaw LLP tracks how federal FLSA lawsuits are being filed and resolved, offering a detailed look at where that risk is showing up.
Private federal FLSA filings increased year over year in 2025, rising to 5,702 FLSA lawsuits filed from 5,456 the prior year.
FLSA filings stayed steady in 2025, with most months in a tight range – no sharp spikes or drops to speak of. October was the busiest month, with 533 filings, while January was the slowest, with 427.
Employers need every competitive edge they can get to stand out. At the same time, employees’ expectations have grown since the pandemic. And traditional benefits — like health insurance and...
Of those cases, approximately 2,467 were filed as collective actions.
Meanwhile, the Department of Labor recovered more back wages in 2025 than in any year since 2019 – showing that agency enforcement pressure didn’t let up.
In 2025, FLSA collective action settlements totaled $418 million. Across 337 settled cases, that comes out to an average of about $1.2 million per case.
The settlement amounts vary significantly from case to case. The largest award was nearly $56 million, and more than 40 cases were resolved for more than $2 million.
Those figures reflect reported settlements in federal...
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