Morgan Stanley has agreed to settle a group of long-contested wage-and-hour cases for $6 million.
 
According to court documents filed last week, the firm will pay up to $5,995,000 to end four separate pay cases dating from 2012.
 
The disputes cover 458 sales assistants and broker trainees who claim they routinely worked more than 40 hours per week, including study time for licensing tests.
 
If approved by a federal court in Florida where the cases were consolidated, the employees will get additional pay going back three years or more, depending on the state in which they live.
 
Proposed lawyers fees of $3.7 million and costs of $461,000 would leave about $1.8 million for the employees, or about $4,000 per claimant. Amounts each employee actually gets would vary according to their job, tenure and state of residency.
 
Morgan Stanley believes its compensation policies comply with the law, but the firm agreed to settle “in order to avoid the cost and distraction of prolonged litigation,” said spokeswoman Christine Jockle, in an email.
 
Attorneys at the Shavitz Law Group in Boca Raton, Fla., which represents the plaintiffs, declined comment.