When a person is hired to do a job, the agreement and expectation is that the person gets paid for the work they provide. Wage and hour laws exist in California and all across the country to ensure that workers are not taken advantage of and are appropriately paid. Unfortunately, employers will sometimes purposely break these laws, and when that happens, the affected employee(s) can pursue legal action. A supermarket chain in another state allegedly violated wage and hour laws of some employees and a lawsuit has been filed.
The lawsuit was filed by a current employee of the supermarket chain on behalf of himself as well as several other employees. In the lawsuit, employees allege that their employer made them work through the required 30 minute breaks even though they were not on the clock. Also, some employees claim that they had to drive to a managers house to retrieve and/or drop off the keys to the store. The plaintiff says the company failed to pay employees for this time.
The plaintiff also claims that, because he worked during breaks as well as before and after shifts, he frequently worked over 40 hours per week. However, his overtime pay was not calculated correctly, and he was not paid the required time and a half for his overtime hours, the lawsuit says. The plaintiff accuses the defendant of violating wage and hour laws as well as other labor laws.
Failing to pay employees for work is not only wrong, it is a direct violation of federal labor laws. Workers in California that have worked without receiving pay or have been subjected to unfair acts by an employer could greatly benefit by seeking the services of a knowledgeable, employment law attorney. A successfully litigated wage and hour lawsuit could result in the reimbursement of lost wages as well as a sense of justice.
Source: journalnow.com, “Harris Teeter accused of not paying workers for all hours worked“, Cassie Cope, Maria David, Oct. 11, 2017