Skip to main content

The number of wage and hour cases has risen dramatically over the past decade. These cases, which often involve large numbers of employees and massive datasets, present complex class certification issues. Data that have been generated for business purposes must be analyzed to assess whether they can be used to answer the questions raised in the litigation. Variability in the patterns of alleged violations must be explored to determine whether individualized review is required. In this paper, NERA Senior Vice President and Employment and Labor Practice Chair Dr. Denise Martin, and Vice Presidents Dr. Stephanie Plancich and Mary Elizabeth Stern, examine trends in wage and hour cases and explain how the use of statistics can help shed light on these and other issues arising at the class certification phase.