By Christine Davis and Leonore Ralston (March 2, 2018, 9:17 AM EST) -- In January 2018 alone, 679 lawsuits alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act were filed in district courts in the United States, and virtually all were collective actions.[1] In California, where state labor laws are known to be more generous to workers than their federal counterparts, class actions alleging violations of the state's overtime laws and related Labor Code claims are filed every day in state courts.[2] Along with Employee Retirement Income Security Act claims, leading the pack in employment class action litigation are wage and hour disputes, with the top 10 wage and hour settlements in 2016 and 2017 totaling a combined value of $1.2 billion.[3]...