Lawsuit Claims Saks Owes Unpaid Wages for Employee Security Checks, Off-the-Clock Work

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Saks & Company LLC and Saks Incorporated have failed to pay workers for off-the-clock time spent attending meetings and undergoing security checks at the beginning and end of each shift, a proposed class and collective action alleges.

The 15-page suit out of California claims the luxury retailer has violated federal and state labor laws by failing to pay employees for every hour worked, provide proper time-and-a-half overtime pay and issue accurate, itemized wage statements.

The plaintiff, a California resident, says he began his employment with Saks in June 2019 as a retail sales associate in the defendants’ Union Square, San Francisco location. Per the suit, the plaintiff and other employees were required to report to work an hour before their shifts started to attend meetings and review top products and sales from the previous day. The lawsuit alleges Saks has employed a policy whereby workers are not permitted to clock in until a designated time and “not even a minute before,” regardless of whether they were required to report to work earlier than their clock-in time.

Moreover, Saks employees, according to the suit, have been required to wait in line to undergo off-the-clock bag searches, taking an average of 20 minutes each or longer, at the beginning and end of each shift. The case alleges that because the workers were at Saks stores and under the defendants’ control during security checks, they should have been paid for this time.

“This security clearance time should have been paid by Defendants because it constitutes compensable time worked,” the complaint states, adding that the checks were performed “primarily for the benefit of Defendants’ business.”

The lawsuit adds that whenever employees put in more than 40 hours per week, they are entitled to overtime pay for their off-the-clock work.

The suit alleges the defendants’ unlawful conduct has been “widespread, repeated and consistent.”

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