Overview
When financial services, technology, retail, health care, real estate, security services, entertainment, and hospitality businesses, among others, from start-ups to Fortune 50 companies, need practical advice to address wage and hour, HR, and other employment law issues, they turn to attorney Jeff Ruzal.
Clients view Jeff as a business-focused “partner” who helps them achieve employment best practices and risk mitigation without sacrificing their business objectives and goals.
Jeff assists employers with all issues related to wage and hour laws, a focus he developed when he served as a Trial Attorney for the Office of the Solicitor for the U.S. Department of Labor. Employers rely on Jeff to conduct exempt employee and independent contractor misclassification audits, handle federal and state departments of labor investigations, and prepare incentive pay, commission, and equity participation agreements. Jeff also drafts wage and hour policies, offers management training to achieve best practices (including avoidance of off-the-clock work), and assesses compensable activities (such as certain on-call and travel time).
While compliance and litigation avoidance are always the aim, employers rely on Jeff for class and collective action wage and hour litigation.
For in-house employment attorneys and HR directors, Jeff helps them solve a variety of everyday employment-related issues, including general employment law and HR compliance; mitigating the risk of actual and alleged discrimination, harassment, and retaliation in the workplace; and employee redundancy issues and reductions-in-force exercises. He also assists their employers in fortifying the workplace with sound, workable policies, practices, and training.
Jeff has been interviewed and quoted by NPR News, Law360, Bloomberg BNA Daily Labor Report, and the Society for Human Resource Management. He has also written numerous articles on significant employment law issues that have been included in, among other leading publications, Law360, Thomson Reuters Practical Law, and Bender’s Labor & Employment Bulletin. Jeff frequently speaks at national conferences and webinars on a variety of important employment law topics.
Jeff is a main contributor to Epstein Becker Green’s award-winning Wage and Hour Defense Blog. He is also a contributing author to Lexis Practice Advisor and the ABA FLSA Mid-Winter Report.
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Focus Areas
Services
Trending Issues
Experience
- Assists a global bank with almost 50,000 employees across departments with all wage and hour counseling needs and litigation, including classification audits, compensation and incentive plans, compensable work policies, and all ad hoc legal inquiries and issues related to wage and hour. Jeff’s business-focused counseling ensures comprehensive compliance with all employment laws and regulations.
- Advises a national web-based consumer packaged goods company valued at $1 billion on daily employment and HR issues. Jeff’s cost-effective and strategic counseling has helped achieve compliance, avoid litigation, and mitigate risk. In addition to day-to-day counseling, Jeff has assisted the client in avoiding potential litigation with respect to non-compete, wage and hour, workplace policy, compensation and benefits, and discrimination and harassment issues.
- Mitigated potential total exposure in a novel wage and hour class action that affected thousands of a national retailer’s workforce located in New York State. Upon investigating and confirming that the client had inadvertently violated the statute at issue and faced approximately $25 million in exposure, Jeff strategically focused on mitigation by pursing mediation. Through creative arguments, he successfully resolved the matter for less than $2 million.
- Helped a health care/nursing home company avoid potential wage and hour liability in connection with multiple, complex, and multifaceted federal and state department of labor investigations. Jeff leveraged relationships in federal and state departments of labor and mitigated potential substantial exposure with respect to back wages and penalties.
- Defended a national restaurant group in various, significant class actions and individual litigations, including wage and hour (over 500 employees), discrimination, harassment, and retaliation claims. Jeff successfully resolved a major class and collective action for a fraction of the potential $15 million exposure; resolved a single federal court litigation involving wage and hour, discrimination, and retaliation for a small fraction of the overall potential exposure; and successfully defended multiple trials before an administrative law judge for the New York State Human Rights Division.
Recognition
- The Legal 500 United States, Workplace and Employment Counseling (2018)
- The Best Lawyers in America, Employment Law - Management (2023 to 2025)
Credentials
Education
- New York Law School (J.D., cum laude)
- Hofstra University (B.A.)
Bar Admissions
- New York
Court Admissions
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York
- U.S. District Court, Northern District of New York
- U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York
- U.S. District Court, Western District of New York
Media
Events
Upcoming Events
Past Events
- July 25 - 27, 2024
- November 10, 2021
Insights
Insights
- Media CoverageJeff Ruzal Quoted in “DOL Subminimum Wage Program Should Go, Experts Say”3 minute read
- Firm Announcements
Epstein Becker Green Attorneys Honored for Excellence in the Legal Profession by Best Lawyers 2025
14 minute read - Media CoverageJeff Ruzal Quoted in “Why Stopping ‘Hot’ Goods Is Key to Fighting Child Labor”2 minute read
- Media CoverageJeff Ruzal Quoted in “Overcome Communication Challenges When Reclassifying Employees”2 minute read
- Media CoverageJeff Ruzal Quoted in “Employer's Intent Key to Wage Theft Prosecution”2 minute read
- BlogsU.S. Department of Labor Issues Final Overtime Rule Raising Salary Thresholds7 minute read
- Media CoverageJeff Ruzal Quoted in “New Overtime Rule Raises Salary Level in Two Phases”2 minute read
- Media CoverageJeff Ruzal Quoted in “2nd Circ. Remand Gives Lesson for Closing Wage Claims”3 minute read
- Media CoverageJeff Ruzal Quoted in “Workers Poised to Score Benefits as DOL Rule Creates ‘Employees’”2 minute read
- BlogsNew York Wage & Hour Update: New York Appellate Division, Second Department, Finds No Private Right of Action for Frequency of ...6 minute read
- Media CoverageJeff Ruzal Quoted in “1 Way to Wrap Up Wage-Hour Suits Without Court Review”3 minute read
- PublicationsNew York State Follows New York City in Enacting Freelance Worker Protections9 minute read
- BlogsShould I Stay or Should I Go? Federal Regulators and Employers May Face Impending Clash Over “Stay or Pay” Clauses in ...6 minute read
- BlogsComing or Going? Employer Training Draws Focus of Federal Regulators6 minute read
- Media CoverageJeff Ruzal Quoted in “Wage Division Reports Banner Year for Fines, Record Low Actions”4 minute read
- Media CoverageJeff Ruzal Quoted in “3 Ways to Avoid Being a Wage & Hour Grinch”3 minute read
- Media CoverageJeff Ruzal Quoted in “Tipped Credit Rule May Bring Down Tipped Wages”3 minute read
- Media CoverageJeff Ruzal Quoted in “4-Day Workweek Shows Promise Despite Compliance Issues”2 minute read
- Media CoverageJeff Ruzal Quoted in “Perdue, Tyson Foods Face ‘Unique’ Probe in Child Labor Crackdown”5 minute read
- Media CoverageJeff Ruzal Quoted in “3 Tips for Complying with NY's Salary Disclosure Law”3 minute read
- Media CoverageJeff Ruzal Quoted in “5 Things to Know About Retaliation in Employment Law”2 minute read
- Media CoverageJeff Ruzal Quoted in “EEOC, DOL Wage Arm Ink Broad Deal to Team Up on Enforcement”4 minute read
- Media CoverageJeff Ruzal Quoted in “’Jury Is Out’ on New NY Wage Theft Law”3 minute read
- Media CoverageJeff Ruzal Quoted in “Proposed Overtime Rule Likely to Face Court Challenge, but Positions Should Be Audited Anyway” ...2 minute read
- Media CoverageJeff Ruzal Quoted in “DC Service Fees a Case Study for Tip Wage Phaseout”3 minute read
- Firm Announcements
Epstein Becker Green Attorneys Recognized by 2024 Best Lawyers for Excellence in the Legal Profession
12 minute read - Media CoverageJeff Ruzal Quoted in “DoorDash Tests Gig-Economy Model with New Hourly Wage Option”2 minute read
- Media CoverageJeff Ruzal Quoted in “Biggest Wage and Hour Legislation So Far in 2023”3 minute read
- Media CoverageJeff Ruzal Quoted in “Sabbaticals Can Help Fight Burnout, Turnover”2 minute read
- Media CoverageJeff Ruzal Quoted in “Fast-Casual Workers Can Pool Tips Under New Utah Law”3 minute read
- Media CoverageJeff Ruzal, Lauri Rasnick Quoted in “Be Mindful of Legal Compliance with Unpaid Internships”4 minute read
- BlogsUtah Expands Tip Pooling to Include Non-Tipped Employees4 minute read
- BlogsTime Is Money: A Quick Wage-Hour Tip on … Summer Interns5 minute read
- Media CoverageJeff Ruzal Quoted in “Labor Nom Faces Senate Fight, but She Can Run DOL Anyway”3 minute read
- Media CoverageJeff Ruzal Quoted in “Lawsuit Tests DOL’s Authority Regarding Overtime Rule”2 minute read
- Media CoverageJeff Ruzal Quoted in “Full-Time to Part-Time: Educate Employees About Benefits and Compensation Ramifications” ...2 minute read
- Media CoverageJeff Ruzal Quoted in “Spotlight on Salary Pay Prompts Debates on FLSA Purpose”3 minute read
- Media CoverageJeff Ruzal Cited in “Questions Remain About Anticipated Proposed Overtime Rule”2 minute read
- Media CoverageJeff Ruzal Quoted in “DOL Explains When FLSA, FMLA Cover Remote Employees”2 minute read
- Media CoverageJeff Ruzal Quoted in “3 Emerging Wage and Hour Battlegrounds to Watch”2 minute read
- Media CoverageJeff Ruzal Quoted in “3rd Cir. Holds Potential Participants in Class-Action Suits Are Protected from Retaliation Under ...4 minute read
- Firm Announcements
Epstein Becker Green Attorneys Recognized by 2023 Best Lawyers for Excellence in the Legal Profession
11 minute read - Media CoverageJeff Ruzal Quoted in “NY on Track to Boost Worker Attendance Protections”3 minute read
- Media CoverageJeff Ruzal Quoted in “COVID Hazard Pay Has Ripple Effects in Today’s Overtime Cases”3 minute read
- Media CoverageJeff Ruzal Quoted in “Hybrid Contractor Classification Could Muck Up Litigation”3 minute read
- BlogsU.S. Department of Labor Issues Field Assistance Bulletin on “Protecting Workers from Retaliation”4 minute read
- Media CoverageJeff Ruzal Quoted in “Punching In: OSHA Tarries with Its Heat Rule as Summer Looms”3 minute read
- Media CoverageJeff Ruzal Quoted in “11th Circ. Ruling Shows Tension in Service Fee Interpretations”4 minute read
- Media CoverageJeff Ruzal Quoted in “5 New Bills That Could Rework Pay Protections”2 minute read
- Media CoverageJeff Ruzal Quoted in “3 Ways to Manage Omicron's 'Volatile' W&H Woes”3 minute read