A past Administrator of the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) Wage and Hour Division, attorney Paul DeCamp has spent more than 25 years counseling employers to prepare for scrutiny of their pay practices. He frequently represents employers in complex wage and hour class and mass actions and government investigations.
Paul draws on his experience in private practice and as the former chief federal officer, appointed by the President of the United States, responsible for interpreting and enforcing the nation’s wage and hour laws, to give clients a 360-degree view of their challenges, quantify their risk, and create plans and solutions that align with their business objectives. He is a go-to advisor for his clients’ most pressing wage and hour issues.
Paul uses his strategic insight into wage and hour public policy and government agency enforcement practices to help employers understand how plaintiffs’ counsel and regulators perceive their pay practices. He has defended large private employers and government contractors in federal court cases concerning pay practices for exempt, non-exempt, and tipped employees, as well as independent contractors. Paul’s creative and forceful arguments have blocked class certification attempts and led the DOL to revise its interpretation of Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) provisions. When responding to an investigation, his strong relationships with key DOL personnel and other federal and state agencies give clients the advantage of further consideration and review of their matter.
Clients also rely on Paul’s day-to-day advice on wage and hour matters ranging from discrete questions involving a single employee to nationwide evaluations affecting thousands of workers. Additionally, he assists clients with pay practice audits and corporate transaction due diligence.
Paul is co-chair of Epstein Becker Green’s Wage and Hour practice group. He is also co-editor of, and a contributing writer to, the firm’s Wage and Hour Defense Blog.
In addition, Paul is a frequent speaker and thought leader who has testified before Congress several times both while serving at the DOL and in private practice. He most recently testified before a House committee as the sole management-side witness regarding potential new federal wage legislation.