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From Over Time Wiki

One Big Mess O' Overtime Law

I have always found wikis to be amazing in their ability to organize great amounts of information. Whether it is a broad overview or nuanced trivia, the information fits in a wiki. As overtime lawyers know, the FLSA overtime and minimum wage law is all over the place. It struck me that a wiki might be the best way to organize such diverse material.

Everyday, I read all of the new published cases regarding overtime law as they are reported on Westlaw. I feel a need to store and organize this information so that it is not lost or forgotten. Nothing is as frustrating as knowing that there is a case on point, having read it, but not being able to locate it.

As more information is entered into the database, the overtime law wiki will begin to organize itself. It seems to me that there are two main types of cases I run across -- procedural cases and substantive cases. Procedural cases deal with discovery, class notice and management, evidence, settlement, trial, and appeal. Overtime law is heavy on procedural nuances. Substantive cases deal with coverage and exemption issues. Questions like employee vs. independent contractor or administrator vs. clerical worker.

I also want to use the wiki to store hard to find materials, especially from the Department of Labor. The Bush administration revamped the DOL website to hide information like fact sheets (that were quite helpful to employees). The Bush administration also deleted all opinion letters that were written prior to 2000 from the website. All of this sort of information should be publicly available and easy to find.

At some point in time, I may put this together in book form, something like what Peter Broida has done for Merit Systems Protection Board law. The various pages of the wiki would be chapters and subchapters. Again, who knows if the wiki will ultimately take this direction.

For now, only I can edit the wiki. But once there is enough information seeded in the wiki, I may open it on a very limited basis to others. If there is enough interest (and safeguards to protect against wrong or misleading information) the wiki may be opened to all. Again, who knows.

I hope that everyone can benefit from the overtime law wiki. It is written for the general public. However, be aware of this caveat:

This site does not offer legal advice or information specific to a particular situation.

The content and links available on this site are for educational purposes only and provide only general information. Because content is user generated, you are prohibited from relying on the information contained on this site. No information on this site should be considered as legal advice. Users are strictly prohibited from offering legal advice through this website. If you have a legal question, you should consult an attorney licensed in your community.