Wells Fargo Unpaid Overtime Lawsuit Nears $3.5M Settlement

A Wells Fargo unpaid overtime lawsuit that has stretched on for three years may be reaching its end soon, as the Class of employees has asked for approval of a $3.5 million settlement.

The Wells Fargo unpaid overtime lawsuit was filed under the Fair Labor Standards Act and alleged that Wells Fargo violated federal laws over minimum wage requirements and certain state labor laws.

According to the Wells Fargo unpaid overtime lawsuit, the banking giant has its employees who want to be financial advisers undergo a five-year financial adviser training program. But for those who don’t finish the program, the bank requires payment for the training they won’t use—to the tune of a whopping $55,000.

This isn’t a rare occurrence. According to the Wells Fargo unpaid overtime lawsuit, only one quarter of employees make it through the required five years of training. The other three-quarters are required to pay $55,000 for unused training.

More than half leave before the two-year mark. Essentially, the Class claims, these trainees are “set up for failure.”

The most recent of these complaints notes that “the firm provides no meaningful training but forces all new FAs (financial advisers) to sign unlawful contracts obligating them to pay ‘training costs’ of up to $55,000 if they leave the firm within five years, as most will be forced to do.”

The lead plaintiff, Erika Williams, filed this class action after she left the program one year into her training. Her year’s salary was $45,000, and she couldn’t even cover the cost of training that she would no longer need.

The Wells Fargo unpaid overtime lawsuit also alleges that, using the looming threat of tens of thousands of dollars of “training costs” debt, Wells Fargo “forces new FAs to work long hours, in excess of 40 hours per week, and fails to properly record or pay them for hours and overtime worked.”

Class Members include those who were in this position from sometime in 2009, varying by state, until Dec. 31, 2016.

Wage and Hour Regulations

There are a series of both federal and state wage and hour laws put in place to protect workers and ensure they are treated fairly.

However, many workers across the country do not know the protections that the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) offers, which can lead to employers taking advantage of them, in some cases requiring unpaid overtime work despite the illegality of doing so.

Some workers may find themselves unable to file wage and hour complaints like this unpaid overtime lawsuit because they are not aware of FLSA rules. Others may be afraid that their employers will retaliate or even fire them if they speak up about these kinds of FLSA violations.

To protect workers who help to enforce FLSA rules, laws also exist to protect workers from discrimination based on wage and hour complaints.

Filing a Wells Fargo Unpaid Overtime Lawsuit

If you have worked for an employer like Wells Fargo that may have failed to follow the Fair Labor Standards Act or state labor laws, such as overtime requirements, you may be able to either join a wage and hour class action lawsuit or file an unpaid overtime lawsuit of your own.

Join a Free Wage & Hour Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you were forced to work off the clock or without overtime pay within the past 3 years, you have rights – and you don’t have to take on the company alone.

Get a Free Case Evaluation Now