Wage and Hour Winter Wonderland 2025

Join the Godfrey & Kahn Labor & Employment team for a half-day CLE hosted by the State Bar of Wisconsin.

Jingle all the wage

Picture Cousin Eddie knocking on your door, only this year he’s turned his RV into a mobile audit unit. He’s not there to empty the contents of his septic tank, but he could raise a stink about your payroll records. Santa needs to get up to speed pronto with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) now that several elves are complaining about overtime. Ho-ho-no! Even Scrooge makes an appearance, with the Ghost of Lawsuits Past reminding you of what happens when pay practice mistakes come back to haunt employers.

Law actually

Wage and Hour Winter Wonderland is where your favorite holiday classics meet serious payroll compliance concerns. This dose of good cheer is packed with practical strategies and sharp insights from seasoned practitioners, tied up neatly with a festive bow.

Review the latest developments in wage and hour law so your clients don’t wind up on the Department of Labor’s (DOL) naughty list. You’ll unwrap:

• How minor payroll mistakes can snowball into full-blown audits (and how to stop them early)
• Key strategies for certification and settlement in collective actions under the FLSA
• Insights from recent cases on misclassification, hidden off-the-clock work, and other pay practice gaps
• Audit dos and don’ts to keep the coal out of your clients’ stockings

Program Highlights

From RV to CLE, When Cousin Eddy Turns Up as Your Auditor

Rebeca M. Lopez, Aaron P. McCann & Ashley E. McNulty

What happens when your friendly “holiday visitor” is actually there to comb through your payroll records? Join us for a fast-paced, laugh-out-loud session that uses the unforgettable antics of Cousin Eddy from National Lampoon’s Vacation to reveal the dos and don’ts of wage and hour audits. You’ll learn how to get your compliance house in order before the doorbell rings, how to handle an audit without losing your cool, and the easy-to-miss mistakes that can turn a routine review into a full-blown investigation.

Sleigh What?! Certification and Settlement for Collective Action

Erin (Maggie) M. Cook, Josh Johanningmeier & Theresa Correa McMichen

FLSA collective actions aren’t your average sleigh ride. This session covers key developments in conditional certification, decertification tactics, and settlement strategy — all wrapped in the procedural twists that make these cases high-risk and high-reward. Because nothing ruins a holiday party like a poorly timed opt-in notice.
 

The Ghost of Lawsuits Past

Makena K. Felten & Katheryn (Katie) Mills Ybarra

Like Scrooge’s journey through Christmases gone by, this session will guide you through the shadows of recent wage and hour cases where employers’ past decisions came back to haunt them. Paired with real-world audit findings, these cautionary tales reveal the most common pay practice gaps—from tricky misclassification traps to hidden off-the-clock work. Learn from others’ costly mistakes and keep your compliance record off the DOL’s naughty list.