We are preparing or have filed a collective action (similar to a class action) against doTERRA International, LLC, doTERRA, Inc., and doTERRA United States, LLC (collectively “doTERRA”) for willful violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). In our complaint we allege that doTERRA failed to pay certain employees overtime in the amount of 1.5 times their regular rate of pay for a period of three (3) years. Under the FLSA when an employer does not pay certain employees overtime 1.5 times their regular rate of pay, the company is liable for the unpaid overtime, plus an additional equal amount in liquidated damages, potential fines, court costs and attorneys’ fees.

Evidence suggests that doTERRA was aware as early as January of 2023 that they were miscalculating overtime pay by excluding non-discretionary bonuses from the calculation of regular rate. The regular rate of pay under the FLSA is defined to include ALL compensation, not just your hourly rate or salary. By excluding non-discretionary bonuses—such as production bonus and/or upsell bonuses doTERRA violated the FLSA.

What About doTERRA’s recent “Pay Adjustment”

Rather than correct the problem promptly, doTERRA’s management took affirmative steps to conceal the underpayments and forced staff members to lie about changes to the bonus programs to minimize overtime payments. Only after we sent a demand to doTERRA did they take recent steps to pay their employees for a portion of back overtime pay. Recently doTERRA sent an email to current and recently terminated employees explaining that an audit “discovered a discrepancy in the way overtime was calculated.” The problem is doTERRA only attempted to pay back 2 ½ years of overtime, but because we believe their violation was willful we believe they are required to pay back 3 years.

We allege that DoTERRA is attempting to minimize the payout to 2.5 years to avoid paying back overtime for the holiday season in 2020—a season that resulted in record sales, record overtime, and record bonuses. In addition, doTERRA characterized the double payment to employees as a goodwill gesture to account for the employee’s “inconvenience”. We assert that is false and misleading because doTERRA is required to make the double payment for the FLSA violation. doTERRA’s illicit conduct exemplifies why courts generally do not allow employers to settle FLSA violations with employees directly. Generally only the courts and DOL can supervise settlements.

Who Qualifies

What To Do

If you would like us to determine your eligibility to join the collective action to ensure you are paid the overtime that you are owed for the maximum amount under the law, complete the form at https://weekes-law.com/overtime-litigation/. 

You may also file a complaint with the Department of Labor at https://webapps.dol.gov/contactwhd/Default.aspx.