LinkedIn ordered to pay $6m as labour violation settlement

LinkedIn has been ordered by the US government to pay out $6m (£3.6m) in wages and damages to its former and current employees.

 

According to regulators, the social networking service did not take into account all the hours worked by its staff at the California, Illinois, Nebraska and New York offices. 

 

The order follows an investigation looking into violations that occurred over a two-year period from February 2012 to February 2014.

 

The settlement, consisting of $3.3m in unpaid wages and $2.5m in damages, will be split between 359 individuals.

 

"This was a function of not having the right tools in place for a small subset of our sales force to track hours properly," said Shannon Stubo, vice president of corporate communications at LinkedIn.

 

However, the company has expressed its willingness to address and fix the situation, and has agreed to give compliance training and expand its overtime policy to all applicable staff.

 

“Talent is LinkedIn’s number one priority, so of course, we were eager to work closely with the Department of Labor to quickly and equitably rectify this situation,” said a spokesman for the company. 

 

David Weil, administrator of the Department of Labor’s wage and hour division, reacted positively to LinkedIn's commitment.

 

“We are particularly pleased that LinkedIn also has committed to take positive and practical steps towards securing future compliance,” he said.