Overtime Class Action Roundup

Workers should be paid for the time that they work. This basic principle is defended by multiple laws – but when it comes to overtime things can get a bit hazy. There are multiple reasons workers might take legal action to recoup unpaid overtime, and several prominent cases have recently been filed.

The company had been paying workers for 40 hour weeks irrespective of their actual hours and the time-and-a-half that employees were owed for overtime.

Honghua America Workers Misclassified

Whether workers are independent contractors or employees affects benefits, pay, and overtime stipulations. Honghua America, an oil and gas equipment manufacturer, has just recently paid more than $680,000 in back overtime to more than 130 workers who were misclassified. The move follows a Department of Labor investigation. The company had been paying workers for 40 hour weeks irrespective of their actual hours and the time-and-a-half that employees were owed for overtime.

New Jersey Police Claim $8 million in overtime class action

Several police officers in Orange County, NJ have joined a potential class action over claims that while attendance is marked, actual hours worked are ignored. Specifically, hourly paid officers may have been required to start work before shifts began, and to stay on after shifts had finished. While workers argue that the Fair Labor Standard Act may have been broken, officials have responded that a current agreement governing compensation exists – but the officers in question point out that if a federal act has been violated, that takes precedence and trumps existing rules.

California Truckers Allege Misclassification

A proposed class action in California alleges that truck drivers were identified as independent contractors and therefore missed out on overtime pay and meal and rest breaks. The lawsuit has been filed against the trucking company which, workers say, effectively employs them but fails to acknowledge this on paper. The crux of the argument is that the trucks driven were company property, and no control over workdays was given to individuals. Had the drivers truly been independent contractors, they assert, these things would not have been true.

McDonald’s Overtime and Time-Shaving

McDonald’s was recently faced with a lawsuit alleging workers’ time cards were doctored to show incorrect hours worked in an attempt to save money and avoid paying overtime wages. According to the plaintiffs, punch card changes by managers effectively wiped hundreds of hours from records and reduced worker’s pay to reflect only eight-hour shifts - despite some workers clocking in much longer shifts.

Russell Stover Workers – Sales Reps or Non-Exempt Employees?

In another case of purported misclassification, workers for Russell Stover Candies Inc. filed a class action lawsuit in a federal court this week claiming that, rather than non-exempt employees, they are labeled incorrectly as sales representatives and, as such, miss out on overtime pay. Nine workers report than their work does not take place primarily in sales, as stipulated by the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. Instead, the workers say they are manual laborers who unpack stock, inspect shipments, process credits, and repair fixtures – and as such, work as employees. The class action was filed at the U.S. District Court in Atlanta for the Northern District of Georgia.