A federal court recently ruled that late paychecks resulted in a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
In Martin v. U.S., the federal government paid its workers approximately two weeks late because of the government shut down in October 2013. The court concluded that the FLSA is violated when an employer fails to pay its employees all wages due on the regular pay day. While the employees got their paychecks, they were entitled to liquidated damages in an amount equal to the late payments, plus attorneys’ fees. The employer can avoid those damages only on a showing that it was made in good faith and that it had reasonable grounds to believe that its act or omission was not a violation of the law.