Ken Sulzer Quoted in The National Law Journal

The article "A legal price for wage hikes" in the January 23 issue of The National Law Journal notes: "Many new state laws conflict with federal guidelines and mandate stricter record-keeping requirements for employers, which could provide plaintiffs greater ammunition to support wage and overtime actions. Workplace scenarios expected to wind up in litigation include: Employees who are labeled independent contractors and who then sue the employer, claiming that they were intentionally misclassified to avoid overtime and higher wages; Hourly employees who are named assistant managers and who then sue over the new job title, claiming that they were misclassified just to be exempt from overtime and higher wages; Employees who are asked to get a job done even if it means working off the clock, and who then sue for unpaid overtime-a scenario that's already clogging the courts. Kenneth D. Sulzer, an attorney in the Los Angeles office of Chicago's Seyfarth Shaw who represents management in labor and employment law and litigation, notes that minimum-wage increases can especially affect companies that rely heavily on workers on commission. "Companies that pay lots of employees on piece rates or commissions often run afoul when minimum-wage rates are changed, and [this] leads to class litigation," Sulzer said. "Also many of these companies will just not be aware that they have to change these calculations until well after the new wage takes effect."