Lawsuit Demands PetSmart Rethink Pay Practices

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PetSmart, Inc. is facing a former employee’s claims that the retailer violated several provisions of federal and state labor laws. The man says he worked for the defendant in various positions, including as a PetsHotel Manager, through November 2015. He claims that he was considered exempt from receiving time-and-a-half overtime wages even though his job didn’t directly relate to management or administrative duties. According to the suit, the defendant reclassified his position as non-exempt in April 2015 and changed his job title to “PetsHotel Leader,” though his duties effectively remained the same. He argues that he should have received premium overtime pay for the duration of his employment as a PetsHotel Manager.

The complaint then delves into several other potential infractions, including that employees were allegedly required to perform store opening and closing duties before and after their scheduled shifts without compensation. On top of that, the plaintiff says he wasn’t provided with proper meal and rest breaks, or reimbursement for being required to use his personal cell phone to take business calls during shifts.

The case further accuses the defendant of failing to provide employees with “suitable seats” when possible. The suit argues that some employees were required to work behind the check-in counter – where their work “reasonably permitted the use of seats” – but were forced to stand despite having adequate space for a chair.