Iowa Wage and Hour Class Actions

We often represent employees in class actions involving unpaid wage or overtime allegations. Such claims are often too small on an individual basis to warrant a lawsuit, but when joined together as a class action can be worthwhile and powerful. Our class actions have included claims concerning:

• Employers' failure to pay overtime compensation due to misclassification of employees as exempt.

• Employers' failure to pay regular or overtime compensation due to failure to include all of employees' compensable working time in wage calculations.

• Employers' failure to properly pay tipped workers under Iowa and federal minimum wage laws.

Our wage and overtime class actions frequently involve management-level employees who have been misclassified as exempt executive or administrative employees and are not receiving overtime when they exceed forty hours of work in given week. For tipped workers, we have developed a specialty in representing tipped employees, particularly restaurant workers, who are always paid tipped minimum wage even when they're engaged in nontipped duties in violation of Iowa and federal minimum wage law.

Class actions require an extra level of legal expertise beyond that normally necessary. Attorneys pursuing class actions must not only know the law regarding and be able to prove the basic claim that underlies the class action, but must also be familiar with and skilled at the procedural intricacies that must be navigated to successfully prosecute a class action lawsuit from beginning to end. There's an entirely separate body of caselaw, rules, and procedures that only apply to class actions, which can create many pitfalls for a class action. Those procedural pitfalls can cause the end of a class action even if the underlying legal claim is solid, leaving all the class members to pursue their small legal claims individually.

If, after reviewing this information, you'd like to speak with us about a wage or overtime class action, please reach out to us through the Web Contact Form by using the "Contact Us" button or by calling (515) 281-1460. We make every effort to provide a same-day response to all communications received during weekday business hours.

Erbe Law Firm 
2501 Grand Avenue
Des Moines, Iowa 50312
(515) 229-0202

Erbe Law Firm has proudly served clients throughout Iowa since 2005 from our Des Moines law firm. We look forward to hearing from you to see whether we can do the same for you.