Wage & Hour

CRA’s experts are highly experienced in analyzing class certification issues, liability, aggregate and subclass damages, individual damages, injunctive relief, and settlement distribution. We evaluate the presence or absence of commonality among putative class members and assess the typicality of the named plaintiffs in class actions. Class certification disputes often require extensive data analysis and econometric or statistical modeling. Our team frequently builds and analyzes large, complex datasets and excels at distilling vast amounts of information into clear, manageable tables and figures to support clients in drafting briefs and anticipating opposing arguments.

CRA’s experts and data analysts specialize in collecting, validating, and structuring client data to support defensible analysis in wage and hour matters.

We routinely identify and address gaps in initial datasets—such as missing former employees or exempt/non-exempt transitions—and conduct thorough quality checks to ensure completeness and consistency. Early detection of data issues is critical, as omissions can materially affect litigation outcomes, including triggering escalator clauses in settlements.

Our team collaborates closely with client data teams to prepare accurate productions for courts, counsel, and administrators, including large-scale datasets involving billions of records. We also design statistically valid samples when full population analysis is impractical.

CRA experts have been appointed by courts to develop equitable settlement allocation models in class action matters.

CRA’s economists are well-equipped to provide written and oral testimony in court or arbitration settings. They clearly explain their analyses during both the liability and damage calculation phases of litigation. CRA also has extensive experience preparing rebuttal reports and testimony—reviewing and critiquing the opposing expert analyses, and when appropriate, offering alternative damage estimates.

CRA provides targeted PAGA compliance audit services to help employers reduce risk and demonstrate proactive compliance under California’s reformed Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA).

Our experts work with outside counsel to conduct detailed audits of payroll and timekeeping systems, meal and rest break practices, wage statements, termination pay procedures, and employment policies. These audits are designed to identify and correct systemic issues—such as miscalculated overtime, double time, break premiums, and sick pay adjustments—before a PAGA notice is received.

CRA also supports employers in documenting the “reasonable steps” taken toward compliance, which may help limit penalties under the revised law. Our team delivers actionable insights and assists in implementing necessary payroll system updates to ensure defensibility and alignment with current legal standards.

CRA’s experts support counsel throughout pre-mediation by helping define the putative class—reviewing job descriptions, compensation plans, organizational structures, and other relevant criteria.

We prepare counts, descriptive statistics, and trend analyses to clarify class scope and identify potential subclass distinctions that may affect certification.

Our team also develops exposure estimates across various scenarios, including interactive tools—typically Excel-based—that allow counsel to adjust key variables and instantly assess the impact on potential damages.

CRA’s labor and employment experts are frequently engaged to evaluate potential exposure in wage and hour class and collective actions.

In FLSA matters, we assess damages related to unpaid overtime and minimum wage violations stemming from off-the-clock work, misclassification, rounding practices, and miscalculation of the regular rate of pay.

In California, our analyses address exposure associated with underpaid overtime and double time, noncompliant meal and rest breaks, sick pay, off-the-clock work, wage statement and waiting time penalties, and various PAGA violations.

We have deep expertise in conducting complex regular rate of pay analyses, evaluating overtime calculations where employers have paid at the rate-in-effect rather than the legally required regular rate, as well as examining how different types of remuneration—such as bonuses, commissions, shift differentials, and other incentive or premium payments—are treated in the regular rate.

In Washington and Colorado, we evaluate exposure related to meal and rest break compliance. In Colorado, we conduct analysis of holiday work incentives and the corresponding regular rate of pay and overtime pay calculations.

CRA’s experts conduct proactive wage and hour audits to help employers assess compliance with federal and state laws.

Motivations for audits vary from routine compliance checks and responding to informal complaints, to identifying payroll errors or ensuring adherence to collective bargaining agreements.

Employers with California-based workforces often seek audits due to frequent legal changes, such as updates to PAGA and new case law. CRA typically partners with outside counsel to conduct these audits and, when systemic issues are identified—such as miscalculated overtime, double time, meal/rest break premiums, or sick pay adjustments—we assist in revising payroll systems to ensure compliance.

• Work hours and off-the-clock data
• Location and mobility data (e.g., cell-tower records, GPS from company vehicles, management/dispatch data)
• Scheduling and staffing data
• Staffing and census data (e.g., patient census, call volume, service tickets opened/closed)
• Expense and reimbursement data
• Transaction and production data (e.g., POS timestamps, warehouse pick/pack events)
• Email and messaging metadata (not content)
• Work application data (e.g., Teams/Slack activity, ticketing systems such as Zendesk or ServiceNow)
• HR, compliance, interviews and attestation data
• Exception reports
• Worker-generated data (e.g., personal calendars, text-message timestamps)

CRA’s survey experts build, collect, and interpret surveys that support employment litigation and inform employment policies. We assist in developing surveys into statistical evidence that can form a valuable part of building your case or policies.

Whether in a consulting or testifying role, CRA ensures that survey design and interpretation meet rigorous standards for legal and policy applications.