Call Center Employees Sue Alorica Over Alleged Off-the-Clock Work, Unpaid OT

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Alorica, Inc. is on the receiving end of a proposed collective action filed by four hourly-paid customer service representatives at its Kennesaw, Georgia, call center over allegedly unpaid overtime stemming from off-the-clock work.

The plaintiffs claim they were deprived of compensation for five to 10 hours of work each week due to required pre- and post-shift work. The case alleges employees were required to arrive at the facility about 15 to 30 minutes prior to their scheduled shifts to complete tasks that would allow them to begin receiving calls at their scheduled start times. Further, the plaintiffs performed additional off-the-clock work after their shifts, such as completing final calls (which the case says sometimes took up to 30 minutes), performing administrative tasks, and shutting down equipment, the complaint adds. The plaintiffs claim they were “specifically instructed” by the defendant not to submit that time for payment.

There was a “disparity” between the company’s electronic and manual records of employees’ hours worked, the suit charges, as employees were allegedly instructed by their superiors to manually misrepresent their hours worked. From the complaint:

“Defendant’s computer system recorded Plaintiffs’ working period from the time Plaintiffs logged in until they logged out of the system. However, Plaintiffs were required to manually record eight hours and turn only that time in to prevent Defendant from being liable for overtime pay.”

The plaintiffs, however, claim that they received time-and-a-half pay for “some” overtime hours worked, but that this rate was improperly calculated in that the defendant failed to include “nondiscretionary incentive payments” in the employees’ regular rate of pay.