Firms: Check Your Overtime Regs. Now.

Merrill Lynch and Bank of America are being sued for alleged overtime violations -- and some believe that it may only be the tip of the litigious iceberg.

As readers of The Trusted Professional will remember, the NYSSCPA Stock Brokerage Committee brought in a speaker late last year who cautioned that CPA firms should check to be sure their overtime policies are in line with the Fair Labor Standards Act.  

Why suddenly so important? When Seth M. Kaplan spoke to the committee in October, he said that in California -- where labor laws are stricter than on the East Coast -- the accounting industry was being scrutinized for labor violations. He noted that the lawsuits tend to be industry-wide and move from the West Coast to the East.

At the time, Kaplan said: “it’s only a matter of time before New York firms get hit.”

Is it happening? This suit, filed in New York's federal court, alleges that Merrill Lynch and Bank of America violated the FLSA by not paying overtime to back employees who facilitate transactions of the company's derivative products. The employees who filed the suit, as well as others, were allegedly misclassified as "exempt" from overtime.

The case is "Andrea Levine and Ivey Moore, et al., v. Merrill Lynch, et al.," (U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, Case No. 09 cv 304).