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AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez

LinkedIn agrees to pay employees €4.4 million over wage violations

The professional social network said it paid more than $3.3 million in overtime back wages and $2.5 million in damages to workers in California, Illinois, Nebraska and New York.

LINKEDIN HAS PAID nearly $6 million (€4.4 million) in back wages and damages to 359 current and former employees after a US investigation found it had failed to compensate them appropriately for overtime work.

Under a settlement announced by the Labour Department on Monday, the career-focused social network said it paid more than $3.3 million (€2.4 million) in overtime back wages and $2.5 million (€1.8 million) in damages to workers in California, Illinois, Nebraska and New York.

“This company has shown a great deal of integrity by fully cooperating with investigators and stepping up to the plate without hesitation to help make workers whole,” said David Weil, administrator of the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division. ”We are particularly pleased that LinkedIn also has committed to take positive and practical steps toward securing future compliance.”

Labor Department investigators found that LinkedIn violated the overtime and record-keeping provisions of the Fair Labour Standards Act by neglecting to record, account and pay for all hours worked in a workweek.

Under the law, covered, nonexempt employees must be paid at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour for all hours worked, plus time and a half their regular hourly rates for any work beyond 40 hours in a week.

LinkedIn attributed the violations to “not having the right tools in place for a small subset of our sales force to track hours properly,” adding that it had begun to remedy the problem before the Labor Department investigation.

“LinkedIn has made every effort possible to ensure each impacted employee has been made whole,” a spokesman added in a statement.

The company has also agreed to provide compliance training and distribute its policy prohibiting off the clock work to all nonexempt employees and their managers, remind managers of the affected employees that overtime work must be recorded and paid for, and reiterate its policy prohibiting retaliation against any employee who raises workplace concerns.

“Off the clock hours are all too common for the American worker. This practice harms workers, denies them the wages they have rightfully earned and takes away time with families,” said Susana Blanco, Wage and Hour Division district director in San Francisco.

“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 organisation.”

- © AFP, 2014

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    Mute Seamus Quaide
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    Feb 6th 2023, 7:52 AM

    Give us trade and we’ll be fine about you using Shannon Airport for a stopover for your warcrimes in the Middle East.

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    Mute Kevin Carroll
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    Feb 6th 2023, 10:55 AM

    @Seamus Quaide: all our airports are wide open for everyone off the world.
    You don’t need a passboard to get access to Ireland

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    Mute Sarah Broderick
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    Feb 6th 2023, 9:57 AM

    Why bother? Most of the money US companies make in this country doesn’t stay in this country. Are they even making an impact on employment – look at tech???

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    Mute The next small thing
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    Feb 6th 2023, 2:21 PM

    @Sarah Broderick: There are hundreds of thousands working in multinational companies in this country paying a large chunk of payroll taxes and 25% of our overall tax take comes from corporation tax, with the majority coming from a few of these tech/phara compnaies. If these companies stop investing in this country we a banjaxed and there will have to be a large cut in government expenditure to try and balance the budget.

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    Mute Will Roche
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    Feb 6th 2023, 11:19 AM

    Can he not use FaceTime or a phone call?

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    Mute Rodí O'Leary
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    Feb 6th 2023, 2:40 PM

    @Will Roche: yes, because that’s a great way to build relationships and network… Some expenditure is worth. Not everything can be done on a shoestring.

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    Mute Johnny Farrell
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    Feb 6th 2023, 12:22 PM

    Where are the employees going to live…???

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    Mute Colm Molloy
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    Feb 6th 2023, 9:33 AM

    Did he fly direct from Ireland is the question, if not on a state plane

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    Mute Pat Barry
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    Feb 6th 2023, 9:25 AM

    That’s some jump from 2020 with €50 billion in exports to US! Source CSO.

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    Mute Pat Barry
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    Feb 6th 2023, 9:52 AM

    @Pat Barry: and €18bn US imports in 2021 so €255bn combined is way off.

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    Mute Fuji Hakayito
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    Feb 6th 2023, 6:14 PM

    Most politicians I just see as incompetent buffoons. This guy, I dunno, I just don’t like him.

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    Mute Pat Barry
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    Feb 6th 2023, 6:46 PM

    @Fuji Hakayito: It’s not a popularity show, it’s down to competency as stated and I don’t see him as a buffoon unlike some of his peers.

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    Mute Patrick Herbert
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    Feb 7th 2023, 1:34 PM

    COVENEY IS AT HIS JOB

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