The Labor Department's investigation revealed that LinkedIn,
based in Mountain View, California, failed to record and compensate workers for
all hours worked, violating provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). LinkedIn
Corp agreed to pay about $6 million in back overtime and damages
to 359 current and former employees after a U.S. Department of Labor
investigation found the online career networking company violated the country's
wage law.
In a settlement announced by the Labor Department on Monday,
LinkedIn will pay more than $3.3 million in retroactive overtime wages and more
than $2.5 million in damages to workers in California, Illinois, Nebraska and
New York.
A Labor Department representative said LinkedIn has mailed
the payments to the workers covered by the settlement. A spokeswoman said that
talent is LinkedIn's No. 1 priority, adding that the company was eager to work
closely with the Labor Department to reach the settlement.
In addition to the settlement payment, LinkedIn will train
all employees that "off-the-clock work" is prohibited for all
non-exempt workers, the Labor Department said.
The FLSA requires that non-exempt workers, who are not
salaried managers, be paid the federal minimum hourly wage of $7.25 plus
overtime pay at the minimum rate of 1.5 times the regular hourly rate for hours
worked past 40 in a given work week.
LinkedIn's shares closed at $202.50 on Monday, up 0.4
percent on a day when the major U.S. stock indexes bounced back after Friday's
sharp selloff.
Last week, LinkedIn reported a 47 percent jump in
second-quarter revenue, surpassing analysts' expectations and the website's
membership jumped by a third to 313 million in the quarter that ended June 30.
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