Lawsuit Alleges CVS Pharmacists in Arizona Owed Unpaid Wages

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CVS Pharmacy faces a proposed class and collective action in which an employee claims he and other Arizona pharmacists have not been paid for every hour worked and are owed both minimum and overtime wages.

The plaintiff, who has worked as a pharmacist for defendants CVS Pharmacy, Inc. and CVS RX Services Inc. since March 2016, says he was hired as a non-exempt hourly employee yet is frequently required to perform off-the-clock work for which he is not paid.

According to the case, CVS budgets at each store a set number of total hours to be worked on a weekly basis, time that’s divided among the pharmacists assigned to cover each store. The plaintiff, who currently works at the defendants’ Fountain Hills, Arizona location, says he is only paid for the hours he is scheduled to work, regardless of how many hours he actually works.

While the plaintiff has never been scheduled to work more than 40 hours per week, he frequently spends unpaid time before and after each shift filling prescriptions, completing paperwork and conducting “numerous other job duties”, the lawsuit says.

“Plaintiff’s job duties require him to perform numerous tasks off the clock to complete all the job duties necessary to keep the pharmacy running as CVS expects,” the suit states, claiming the pharmacist works a minimum of three off-the-clock hours, and sometimes as many as 10 to 15 hours, each week.

The case further alleges that although the plaintiff “routinely” puts in more than 40 hours per week, he is not paid at the proper overtime rate, which the man argues should include his non-discretionary bonus. 

The suit goes on to claim the plaintiff and other pharmacists are required to attend mandatory training and meetings for which they are not paid, “which is more work they are required to complete in addition to their scheduled time working in the pharmacy,” per the complaint. The plaintiff says he has, for example, been required to attend local “pod” meetings at a CVS district office and three weekly conference calls for which he receives no wages.

Pharmacists are also expected to participate in flu shot clinics for which they are not paid for any hours during which they fail to meet a quota of six flu shots per hour, the case alleges.

In all, CVS’s alleged failure to pay the plaintiff and similarly situated pharmacists for every hour worked has resulted in unpaid straight time and overtime wages in violation of Arizona and federal wage and hour law, according to the suit.

The plaintiff claims CVS is aware that its pharmacists have been working overtime without pay yet has a policy and practice of denying overtime wages across its Arizona locations.

“The environment created by CVS was one in which the Pharmacists knew that they had to complete job requirements off the clock, because CVS would not approve overtime regardless of the amount of time they spent working in a given workweek,” the lawsuit claims.

The case looks to represent anyone who performed duties as a pharmacist, regardless of actual title, for CVS in Arizona during the last three years.

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