Two recent cases show companies that don’t follow wage and hour laws, especially those concerning exempt/non-exempt and meal period rules, can often expect to pay dearly for their mistakes.

Manpowerblogs.com reports two recent huge payouts:

• Construction supply distributor Fastenal Co. agreed to settle overtime claims for $10 million. Employees in three states alleged Fastenal improperly classified assistant managers as exempt, failed to pay overtime and violated meal period laws. The company admitted no wrongdoing and said it decided to settle the case rather than go through a lengthy, expensive trial.
• Drywall company Interwall will pay more than $1.7 million in a settlement with the California Attorney General’s office for alleged overtime, meal-period and recordkeeping violations. Interwall allegedly shifted employees among various corporate entities to avoid overtime. The company denies any wrongdoing.

Tags: exempt, hours, wage