Collective Actions (Class Actions) Under The FLSA

One of the benefits and unique features of the FLSA is that it allows an employee to file the lawsuit against the employer on behalf of themselves and "all others similarly situated". 29 U.S.C.A. § 216(b). "Similarly situated", means that the nature of the claims of the employees are similar, but need not be identical to each other. Such other employees can join the lawsuit as plaintiffs if they file a form with the court "opting in" to the case, but are not plaintiffs unless and until they opt in. This is a great benefit to employees, as the value of any one plaintiff's overtime or minimum wage claim is typically low when compared with the cost of litigating the case. For example, an employee would not likely want to spend thousands of dollars in expenses litigating an overtime claim worth $5,000. However, when many employees join the lawsuit, the cost of the case is spread out among all plaintiffs in the case which helps minimize the costs of litigating the case for all plaintiffs without lowering the value of any individual plaintiff's case. The additional plaintiffs, often subject to the same policies which violate the overtime or minimum wage requirements of the FLSA, also typically witness, experience and corroborate the violations and therefore strengthen each other's claims. Having more plaintiffs also lessens the chance that the employer will retaliate against the complaining employee. Under the FLSA, there is definitely "strength in numbers".