Overview
Zach Hutton is the chair of the San Francisco Employment Law Department. His practice spans all aspects of employment law, including discrimination and harassment, family and medical leaves, and wage and hour issues. Mr. Hutton has successfully represented employers in numerous class and collective actions, agency investigations, individual plaintiff cases, and administrative hearings. He has tried cases to verdict, and secured early dismissal of individual and class claims.
Mr. Hutton co-chairs the firm's nationwide Wage and Hour practice group and has extensive experience in wage and hour litigation and advice work. He provides advice and compliance guidance on complex wage and hour issues to clients in a variety of industries, including technology, retail, financial services, staffing, hospitality, health care, and insurance.
Recognitions
- Chambers USA, Labor & Employment
- Recognized by The Legal 500 for Labor and Employment Disputes
- Named a leading employment lawyer by Best Lawyers
- Recognized by the Daily Journal as a "Top Labor and Employment Lawyer"
Education
Mr. Hutton received his J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law (magna cum laude) where he was a member of the Hastings Law Journal. During law school, he served as an extern to Justice Marvin R. Baxter of the California Supreme Court.
Representations
- Defeated class certification and PAGA representative status of an overtime misclassification case for a Fortune 500 bio-technology company, and then won on appeal.
- Defeated class certification of three coordinated wage and hour class actions that alleged meal and rest break violations on behalf of nearly 25,000 employees, and then won on appeal.
- Defeated a PAGA representative action for a Fortune 100 company by winning summary judgment on all claims.
- Won a precedent-setting appeal involving California’s pay stub requirements.
- Prevailed in challenges to classification of workers as independent contractors before the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement.
- Achieved walk-away dismissals of class and PAGA claims for numerous clients.
- Won motions to dismiss with prejudice putative class actions at the pleadings stage.
- Successfully represented companies in a variety of industries in enforcement proceedings before the Department of Labor and Division of Labor Standards Enforcement.
news
- Daily Journal Distinguishes Three Paul Hastings Lawyers as Top Labor & Employment Lawyers - June 29th, 2022
- Teleperformance Group Acquires Senture - December 28th, 2021
- Benchmark Litigation Recognizes Paul Hastings’ Employment Law Practice - October 15th, 2020
- Paul Hastings Selected as The American Lawyers Labor & Employment Litigation Firm of the Year - January 6th, 2010
Recognitions
- Three Paul Hastings Partners Distinguished as Top Labor & Employment Lawyers - June 29th, 2022
- Paul Hastings Employment Practice Receives Top Rankings by Chambers USA 2022 - June 1st, 2022
- Paul Hastings Labor & Employment Practice Recognized as Top Tier by the 2021 Legal 500 United States Guide - June 18th, 2021
insights
- California Supreme Court In Adolph v. Uber Has “Last Word” On PAGA Standing - July 18th, 2023
- Employers Must Pay Highly-Compensated Employees On A Salary Basis For FLSA’s Exemptions - February 23rd, 2023
- California Expands Employee Protections: A Dozen New Employment Laws Impacting Employers - October 10th, 2022
- SB 114: California Again Revives COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave - February 10th, 2022
- California Court of Appeal Confirms Importance of Examining Both Plaintiff’s Theory of Recovery and the Evidence Necessary to Establish Meal Period Violations at the Class Certification Stage - September 13th, 2021
- California Employers Must Pay One-Hour Premiums For Meal, Rest, And Recovery Period Violations At The “Regular Rate of Pay” Used To Calculate Overtime Compensation - July 19th, 2021
- California Supreme Court Clarifies Meal Period Obligations and Endorses Meal Period Attestation Process - March 2nd, 2021
- The California Supreme Court Holds Dynamex Is Retroactive - January 19th, 2021
- DOL Issues New Tip Regulations Under the Fair Labor Standards Act - January 12th, 2021
- AB 1867: California Enacts Supplemental COVID-19 Paid Sick Leave Law - September 14th, 2020
- California Legislature Gives Entertainment and Other Industries Some Relief from Restrictive “ABC” Independent Contractor Test - September 11th, 2020
- DOL Withdraws Prior Rule That Prevented Certain Employers from Relying on the Commissioned Sales Exemption from Overtime Requirements - May 21st, 2020
- San Francisco Enacts Public Health Emergency Leave Ordinance to Assist Employees Impacted by COVID-19 - April 20th, 2020
- New Judicial Guidance Addresses No-Accrual Vacation Policies Under California Law - April 6th, 2020
- FFCRA: Guidance and Controversy This Week - April 4th, 2020
- PH COVID-19 Client Alert Series: EEOC Webinar Provides Guidance for Employers - March 30th, 2020
- Once Aggrieved, Always Aggrieved: The California Supreme Court Holds an Employee’s Settlement of Labor Code Claims Does Not Bar a PAGA Lawsuit - March 16th, 2020
- PH COVID-19 Client Alert Series: Employment Issues - March 8th, 2020
- California Supreme Court Holds Employers Must Pay Non-Exempt Employees for On-Site Security Screenings - February 26th, 2020
- Department of Labor Issues Major Update to FLSA Regulations Governing the Regular Rate of Pay - December 20th, 2019
Engagement & Publications
- Mr. Hutton lectures and writes frequently on employment law issues.
- He co-authored four major wage and hour chapters of the Matthew Bender treatise entitled California Employment Law, serves as a member of the editorial board for the Matthew Bender publication, California Labor and Employment Bulletin, and has contributed to the supplement to the ABA’s Fair Labor Standards Act treatise.
- He is a former member of the Executive Committee of the Bar Association of San Francisco (BASF) Labor and Employment Section and previously served as the Chair of the BASF Barristers’ Labor and Employment Section.
Involvement
- Bar Association of San Francisco, former member of the Labor and Employment Law Section Executive Committee
- International Bird Rescue, Board of Directors