Compliance
18 FLSA Overtime Benchmarks Every Payroll Team Needs in 2025
Approximately 75% of all FLSA back-wage findings involve overtime or minimum-wage violations, per DOL Wage and Hour Division FY2023 data. The average back-wage recovery runs roughly $1,393 per affected employee, and liquidated damages double that liability in about 90% of successful plaintiff cases (Seyfarth Shaw, 2023). Meanwhile, only about 54% of U.S. employers use automated timekeeping integrated with payroll (APA, 2023), leaving nearly half the employer population exposed to the highest overtime-error rates. This catalog aggregates 18 sourced benchmarks across five measurement categories so your payroll team can assess where you stand and set defensible targets.
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Overtime dominates FLSA violations
Roughly 75% of all FLSA back-wage findings involve overtime or minimum-wage violations, per DOL WHD FY2023 data. Fixing overtime calculation gaps addresses the majority of your total FLSA exposure.
Back-wage recovery averages $1,393 per employee
That figure from DOL WHD FY2023 excludes liquidated damages, attorney fees, and administrative remediation, which can double or triple total employer cost.