LinkedIn has accepted to pay off $3.3 million in unpaid wages and $2.5 million in damages after US regulators found the firm had failed to account for hours worked by employees. The company now promises to pay 359 workers, both current and former.
LinkedIn also accepted to distribute its policy on overtime work as well as provide compliance training to all relevant staff. According to the firm, talent is its “first priority” and it is keen to “correct the situation”.
Shannon Stubo, the VP of LinkedIn’s corporate communications, said: “This was a result of not possessing the correct tools in place for a little set of our sales team to track hours in the right manner.”
Susan Blanco, of the US Labor Department, stated: “Off the working hours are all to common for the American employee. This practice hurts workers, denies them time with families as well as the wages they have rightfully earned.”
However, the regulator mentioned that LinkedIn had co-operated with the investigation and had promised to prevent future violations.
“LinkedIn has demonstrated a great deal of integrity by entirely cooperating with investigators and moving forward without hesitation to assist make employees whole. We are especially delighted that the firm has also committed to take practical and positive steps towards getting future compliance,” said David Weil, the administrator of the Wage and Hour Division.