While no claim exists under federal law for the time spent undergoing screenings, this is not always the case under state labor law. Because employees were required to “clock out” before undergoing the security screening, they were not compensated for their time spent waiting in line for and then undergoing the screenings. The policy worked like this: “At the end of their respective shifts, hundreds, if not thousands, of warehouse employees would walk to the timekeeping system to clock out and were then required to wait in line in order to be searched for possible warehouse items taken without permission and/or other contraband.” The workers claimed that “Defendants’ policy of requiring hourly warehouse employees to undergo a thorough security clearance before being released from work and permitted to leave the employer’s property was solely for the benefit of the employers and their customers.” The employees also claimed that this screening process took approximately 25 minutes each day, and that they were also required to undergo the same security clearance prior to taking their lunch breaks, thereby reducing the full thirty-minute break they were supposed to receive. Under the policy, Plaintiffs and all other hourly paid, non-exempt employees were required to “undergo a daily security clearance check at the end of each shift to discover and/or deter employee theft of the employer’s property and to reduce inventory ‘shrinkage.’” This case involved a security clearance policy that was enforced at all Amazon locations throughout the United States. The Lawsuit – Amazon’s Security Clearance Check $1.75 million by Ulta – off-the-clock security checksĪnd, a new class action case was recently filed against Rite Aid and Thrifty PayLess seeking to recover unpaid wages for drugstore employees in California for time spent submitting to mandatory security inspections while they were clocked out during meal breaks and after their shifts ended.Ĭalifornia’s Supreme Court has held that state law requires compensation when employees are subject to an employer’s control, and the time employees spend waiting for and undergoing security checks is for the employer’s benefit, not the employees’, and “clearly” qualifies as compensable time.$7 million by Big Lots Stores – post-shift waiting time for unpaid security checks.$2.9 million by Dick’s Sporting Goods – off-the-clock security checks.Numerous other large employers have settled class action lawsuits based on unpaid time spent by employees to undergo various types of security checks. While small amounts of time spent on tasks such as clocking in/out or undergoing security and bag checks may not be required to count as time worked under federal law, this is not so under California state law – all time counts. These claims are the result of California’s wage laws that, in many instances, provide greater rights and protections for workers than do federal wage and hour law. This is another of a growing number of multi-million dollar settlements for workers who should have been paid for time spent during mandatory security and bag searches under California wage laws. The workers also alleged Amazon failed to provide accurate wage statements and did not pay all wages owed when workers left the company. A class of non-exempt, hourly warehouse workers have reached a settlement in a case that claimed Amazon (and the temp staffing agency it used) violated California labor laws when it failed to pay them for mandatory security searches lasting up to 30 minutes after they clocked out.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |