Littler's Garry G. Mathiason participates in a roundtable forum discussing the impact of recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings on employment law, and the far-reaching implications of class action litigation on employers and employees. In response to a justice's ruling that an "additional hour of pay" is a premium wage, not a penalty, Mr. Mathiason commented that, "Contrary to being an advantage for the enforcement of employee rights, the Supreme Court has opened the door to a new gold rush, bringing into question the social value of what is being accomplished." He went on to state, "There is something very wrong when enforcement of some of our most cherished workplace rights ... takes an economic backseat to the dollar recovery for missed ten-minute rest periods that are not even required under federal law."
