There's a very clear message echoing through the American workplace: categorizing employees as exempt or non-exempt is no longer just a prickly payroll decision. Misclassifying employees as exempt from overtime pay when they are entitled to it is to risk being slapped with a huge lawsuit. In the past year, a number of class-action complaints have been filed by employees accusing companies of cheating them out of overtime pay.

In recent well-publicized cases, Rite Aid, U-Haul, and Taco Bell have been charged with overtime violations, settling for S25 million, S7.5 million, and $13 million, respectively. In July 2001, a jury ruled that Farmers Insurance Exchange owed $90 million for not correctly paying its 2,400 claims adjusters and examiners. The presiding judge in the case reasoned that the insurance adjusters were the equivalent of production workers.

Also last year, Starbucks Coffee Co. was accused of overtime violations. The company, which prides itself on its corporate citizenry, denies wrongdoing.