Merrill Lynch Unpaid Wages Settlement: $4.9M

Current and former Merrill Lynch employees who worked in any of the following positions between December 11, 2021, and December 11, 2024:

• Financial Solutions Advisor Stage I – Registration Candidate (Job Code BQ058)
• ADRP Trainee (Job Code BQ249)
• ADRP Financial Solutions Advisor (Job Code BQ250)
• Financial Solutions Advisor Stage I (Job Code BQ223)

Not required—eligibility is based on employment records.

Merrill Lynch has agreed to a $4.9 million settlement to resolve claims that the company failed to pay proper wages and overtime to certain Financial Solutions Advisors and trainees working in its financial services division.

The class action lawsuit alleged that Merrill Lynch required Financial Solutions Advisor trainees to complete significant amounts of off-the-clock work, including studying for licensing exams and other unpaid training assignments. Trainees claimed they were pressured to complete this work outside of regular working hours without compensation, despite the work being necessary for their roles.

In addition to claims involving unpaid training hours, the lawsuit alleged that Merrill Lynch misclassified certain Financial Solutions Advisors as exempt from overtime pay under federal and state labor laws. By treating these advisors as exempt, Merrill Lynch allegedly denied them proper overtime wages for hours worked beyond 40 hours per week — even though the nature of their duties made them non-exempt employees entitled to overtime pay.

Merrill Lynch has denied any wrongdoing, but agreed to the $4.9 million settlement to avoid further litigation. The settlement covers a wide range of current and former employees who held certain Financial Solutions Advisor and ADRP Trainee positions during the three-year period ending December 11, 2024.

Under the Terms of the Settlement

Eligible class members will receive cash payments based on the number of workweeks they completed in a covered position during the settlement period.

• Payments will be split into two parts:
  • 50% of each payment will be treated as wages and reported on a W-2 tax form.
  • The other 50% will be considered non-wage compensation and reported on a 1099 tax form.
• Payment amounts will vary, depending on how many weeks each person worked and how many class members submit valid consent forms. Exact payment estimates were provided in the mailed notices sent to eligible employees.

This is a collective action settlement under federal wage laws, meaning that class members must affirmatively opt in to the settlement by submitting a consent form in order to receive any payment.

The court granted final approval of the settlement on December 11, 2024, and consent forms must be submitted by April 1, 2025 to qualify for compensation.