Michael J. Puma Partner

Michael J. Puma is a partner in Morgan Lewis's Labor and Employment Practice. Mr. Puma's practice includes the full spectrum of labor and employment law matters, such as employee benefits litigation, wage and hour counseling, employment litigation, employment counseling, traditional labor work, protection of trade secrets and unfair competition, and health and safety counseling.

Mr. Puma has focused his practice on litigating federal and state wage and hour claims, including more than twenty national and regional collective and class actions in jurisdictions across the country in the entertainment, retail, financial services, insurance, and telecommunications industries. He is actively engaged in other complex litigation matters as well, including race discrimination class actions and employee benefits class actions in various jurisdictions. He has also represented clients in federal and state Department of Labor (DOL) audits and negotiated favorable settlements of violations.

In addition to his litigation background, Mr. Puma has advised clients in a broad range of industries with respect to compliance with the overtime requirements of the FLSA, state wage payment statutes and other wage and hour requirements. He has conducted many comprehensive internal audits, reviewed hundreds of job descriptions, conducted numerous interviews with management to assist clients in properly classifying employees as exempt or non-exempt, and worked with employers to manage financial and employee relations issues associated with reclassification projects. Mr. Puma also regularly provides advice to clients regarding compliance with state wage payment laws.

Mr. Puma has counseled employers on reductions in force, decisions regarding adverse employment actions, wage and hour concerns, compliance with OSHA's standards for health and safety in the workplace, and compliance with a broad spectrum of other federal, state and local regulations.

Mr. Puma is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania and New York.