Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)- Wage-and-Hour Litigation

7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Taewoo Kim v. Jump Trading, LLC

Case No.: 25-1964

Officials: Easterbook, Scudder, and Kirsch, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)- Wage-and-Hour Litigation

A group of employees alleged that their employer’s timekeeping system unlawfully reduced their wages. The system rounded employees’ clock-in and clock-out times to the nearest quarter-hour. The plaintiffs contended that the rounding practice systematically favored the employer, causing employees to be underpaid in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The employer argued that its policy was facially neutral, complied with federal regulations, and did not, when viewed over time, consistently disadvantage employees.

In the Northern District of Illinois, the employer moved for summary judgment, arguing that the evidence demonstrated that its rounding policy was neutral both in its design and in its actual operation. The district court agreed, concluding that the policy complied with FLSA regulations permitting time rounding so long as the practice does not consistently benefit the employer at employees’ expense. Finding no genuine dispute of material fact, the court granted summary judgment for the employer.

The Seventh Circuit found that the employer’s rounding policy was permissible under the FLSA because it was facially neutral and did not systematically undercompensate employees over time. The court explained that some employees may gain or lose small amounts of compensable time during individual pay periods, but that such variations do not establish an FLSA violation when the rounding system, considered as a whole, does not consistently favor the employer.

Affirmed.

Decided 08/13/26

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