LOS ANGELES — Apple Inc. retail and corporate employees received class certification in their overtime pay lawsuit recently. The newly certified class includes six subclasses with a total of about 20,000 current and former employees who claim the company denied employees’ proper meal breaks and proper wages on their final paychecks, and illegally delayed final paychecks. This lawsuit is separate from the two ongoing lawsuits against Apple for “off-the-clock” security checks.
The Claims
In December 2011, Brandon Felczer joined with other former Apple employees to file a class action in California over missed or delayed meal and rest breaks and failure to provide final paycheck on time. Felczer worked for Apple between September 2010 and November 2011. He claims Apple managers required employees, including him, to work 5 hours or more before being allowed a meal break, in violation of California state labor law. He also claims he gave Apple more than 72-hours’ notice of his leaving the company, yet he did not receive his final paycheck until 2 days after his final shift and he did not receive the appropriate compensation for the delay. This delay is also a violation of state law which requires employers provide final pay immediately upon the end of a shift if the employee provides at least 72 hours’ notice. Felczer added his complaint to Ryan Goldman’s claim of a delay of more than one month before he received his final paycheck after being terminated in 2011. State law allows a maximum of 72 hours to provide final pay after a termination.
Felczer and Goldman are just 2 of the 20,000 employees expected in this lawsuit. It may be hard to imagine a situation where an employer can bypass state labor laws affecting 20,000 employees without an employee raising the issue. But, the current and former employees in this lawsuit claim Apple has a corporate policy prohibiting employees from discussing labor conditions that created a fearful atmosphere and allowed ongoing violations.
Discussing Labor Conditions
There are very few instances where employees are prohibited, by law, from discussing labor conditions, like wages and benefits, with other employees. Under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) employees have the right to “engage in concerted activities,” which would include discussing the terms and conditions of their employment. The NLRA was created to protect the rights of employees to choose whether or not to join a union, but more importantly it allows employees to work together to recognize labor violations and to bargain or push for better working conditions.
Some employers may try to include confidentiality language in contracts or employee handbooks prohibiting the discussion of wages. Or employers may have a company policy, official or otherwise, like Apple, that discourages these discussions. But both the courts and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) agree that employers who have these prohibitions are very likely committing an unfair labor practice and violating employees’ rights under the NLRA.
If your employer is not providing proper breaks or overtime and prevents you from discussing the situation with coworkers, contact our knowledgeable team of overtime pay lawyers today at (855) 754-2795 to discuss your rights. Or complete the Free Unpaid Overtime Case Review form and our skilled legal team will evaluate your case. If we accept your case, we will represent you under our No Fee Promise. This means there are no legal fees or costs unless you receive a settlement.