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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 Conor Conneally
    Favourite Conor Conneally
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    Aug 19th 2012, 6:23 PM

    I remember watching my friend throwing his phone into a Lake after his girlfriend broke up with him on the phone. The look on his face as he realised that he had just lost his brand new phone as well as his girlfriend was priceless

    76
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    Mute Soupy Norman
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    Aug 19th 2012, 6:29 PM

    Cool story bro

    22
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    Mute Seán O' Dulaing
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    Aug 19th 2012, 8:34 PM

    You’re story needs more dragons bro

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    Mute Seán O' Dulaing
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    Aug 19th 2012, 8:35 PM

    *Your

    I’m scarlet right now. . . . .

    26
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    Mute Johnny Quinlan
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    Aug 19th 2012, 11:14 PM

    Been there my friend. Not good.

    7
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    Mute LittleSparrowC
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    Aug 19th 2012, 6:21 PM

    Naomi campbell would have got herself a gold medal in that competion

    49
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    Mute Seán Cafferkey
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    Aug 19th 2012, 6:23 PM

    If it was an old Nokia they were throwing I’d hate to see the holes made in the ground

    35
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    Mute Les Rock
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    Aug 19th 2012, 7:57 PM

    Or worse still the old original 088

    27
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    Mute Thomas Cooke
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    Aug 19th 2012, 10:11 PM

    I would love to have thrown my sons 3 network LG phone all the way to customer support somewhere in India when I wanted a simple issue resolved.

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    Mute Tomas Phelan
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    Aug 19th 2012, 8:58 PM

    I have an ex girlfriend who give him a run for his money. She was fair handy at throwing high heels too!

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    Mute Peter Ward
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    Aug 19th 2012, 10:03 PM

    Surely the distances should be in feet and not metres, otherwise these guys should be in the olympics as the 2 blokes threw further than the gold medal for the javelin

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    Mute Sean Claffey
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    Aug 19th 2012, 9:48 PM

    Blokia. Ready To Throw.

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    Mute Anthony O'Brien
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    Aug 19th 2012, 11:28 PM

    That must be very satisfying. I often felt like hopping mine of a pavement.

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    Mute Adam McGauran
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    Aug 20th 2012, 12:47 AM

    Apple are better to throw!
    NO WAY android are so much more better to throw!

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    Mute Damocles
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    Aug 20th 2012, 7:02 AM

    Couldn’t agree more.

    All Apple phones should be thrown. No androids.

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    Mute John O'Neill
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    Aug 22nd 2012, 4:26 PM

    Definitely a sport for tossers…

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    Mute jrbmc
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    Aug 20th 2012, 8:46 AM

    Eh throwing mobile phones!,swimming with the sharks! People need to get out more!!!

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    Mute Jonny California
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    Aug 19th 2012, 11:17 PM

    Good to see people are busy

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