The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) provides minimum wage and overtime pay protections to nearly all workers in the United States. Under the FLSA, all employees must be classified as either “exempt” or “nonexempt” from minimum wage and overtime provisions. Misclassification of employees occurs when employers classify nonexempt workers as exempt and fail to provide workers FLSA protections such as overtime. This is a common problem that many employers face. In fact, employee misclassification is one of the most common violations of the FLSA.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported in its quarterly Employment Cost Index (ECI) that wages and salaries for private sector employees increased 5.2% for the year ending in September, up from a 4.6% increase the year prior. In the first quarter of 2022, the private sector wage and salary increase had been 5% and 5.7% in the second quarter. Experts view this report as evidence that U.S. wage growth is slowing.