Commonly asked overtime pay law questions about Baja Fresh:
- What is Baja Fresh?
- Who Does Baja Fresh Employ?
- Where is Baja Fresh Located?
- Baja Fresh Overtime Pay Lawsuit News
- What are the Laws for Baja Fresh Employee Overtime Pay?
- Is a Baja Fresh Employee Entitled to Overtime Pay?
- Does Baja Fresh Have to Pay Overtime Wages to its Employees?
- Has Baja Fresh Been Involved in Overtime Pay Lawsuits?
- Baja Fresh Overtime Pay Lawyer Review
What is Baja Fresh?
Baja Fresh is a chain of casual Tex-Mex restaurants founded in Newbury Park, California in 1990. The chain emphasizes fresh ingredients, and each restaurant features a self-serve salsa bar.
Baja Fresh operates over 250 restaurants in 29 states. The company is headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Who Does Baja Fresh Employ?
There are over 250 Baja Fresh locations throughout the U.S. Our experienced overtime pay lawyers handle cases for all Baja Fresh employees, including the following:
- Food prep workers
- Cooks
- Cashiers
- Bus boys
- Managers
- Assistant managers
- Maintenance workers
Where is Baja Fresh Located?
Baja Fresh is headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona. The company has expanded to have locations throughout the United States. Some of the U.S. locations include:
- Atlanta, Georgia
- Baltimore, Maryland
- Charleston, South Carolina
- Las Vegas, Nevada
- Nashville, Tennessee
- Los Angeles, California
- Palo Alto, California
- Washington D.C.
Baja Fresh Overtime Pay Lawsuit News
What are the Laws for Baja Fresh Employee Overtime Pay?
Under the Fair Labor Standard Act (FLSA), many Baja Fresh employees are considered non-exempt and therefore entitled to overtime pay.
If an employee is non-exempt under the FLSA, the law requires that they are paid overtime wages of one and one-half times their regular rate of pay for every hour past 40 in one week.
The FLSA has several exemptions, however, that would preclude employees from receiving overtime pay. For example, employees with “adminstrative” or “professional” roles may fall under these exemptions.
It is important to note that exemption is not determined solely based on job title. Rather, job description, job duties, rate of pay, and hours worked are used to determine if an employee should receive overtime pay.
On top of the FLSA, some states have their own overtime pay laws. These laws may complement or contradict the FLSA, so it is important to consult an experienced attorney who is familiar with all the applicable overtime pay laws.
Is an Baja Fresh Employee Entitled to Overtime Pay?
Baja Fresh employees are often required to work double shifts, as well as additional time before and after their scheduled shift. As a result, many Baja Fresh employees end up working more than 40 hours per week, and are therefore entitled to overtime pay.
Employees who are exempt under the FLSA are not entitled to overtime pay. Whether or not a Baja Fresh employee falls under the “administrative” or “professional” exemptions is determine based on job description, job duties, rate of pay, and number of hours worked.
Employers often deny or unlawfully refuse to pay overtime by misclassifying the positions of the workers, claiming that they are exempt when, in reality, they are not. For example, restaurant managers may be classified as exempt by Baja Fresh based on the “manager” title, when, in reality, their job duties reflect a non-exempt position.
Baja Fresh may also require their employees to report to work early but not “punch the clock” until later or strike hours off of time cards, or they may refuse to pay employees for work done before the shift starts and after they punch out for the day. These are violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and can give rise to an overtime pay lawsuit.
An experienced overtime pay attorney will be able to analyze your case in the context of the FLSA and your state’s laws to determine if you are due overtime wages from Baja Fresh.
Does Baja Fresh Have to Pay Overtime Wages to its Employees?
In many cases Baja Fresh is required to pay overtime wages to employees that work more than 40 hours in one week. This excludes employees who are considered exempt under the FLSA.
Exemption is not cut and dry; the FLSA is a complicated law and state laws can complicate the picture even further.
If you believe that Baja Fresh owes you overtime pay, it is best to consult an attorney who has experience with the FLSA and state overtime wage laws.
To determine whether you are eligible for filing a wage claim, contact our experienced Baja Fresh Overtime Pay Lawyers at (855) 754-2795 for a Free Consultation to discuss your case or complete the Free Unpaid Overtime Case Review Form on this page. We will discuss your situation and determine if you have a claim. If you are owed unpaid wages, we will represent you under our No Fee Promise, which means there are never any legal fees or costs unless you receive a settlement.
Has Baja Fresh Been Involved in Overtime Pay Lawsuits?
Over the past several years, current or former restaurant employees have brought a number of lawsuits against companies like Baja Fresh in an effort to reclaim lost overtime wages. If you believe Baja Fresh is denying you overtime wages, you could have a case similar to that of a previous lawsuit. Here are a few examples of such lawsuits:
- A group of former restaurant workers for Pennsylvania-based Friendly’s recently filed a federal unpaid overtime lawsuit against the company alleging they routinely worked over 40 hours per week without overtime. The judge noted that since Friendly’s corporate was actively engaged in the day to day operations of its franchises and since it set policies for hiring, record time keeping, and training, it may be liable for the damages suffered by the plaintiffs.
- A former manager for a North Carolina Bojangles fried chicken restaurant recently filed an unpaid overtime class action lawsuit against the company claiming the defendant shorted her and hundreds of others out of hard earned income. The suit alleges that the defendant intentionally misclassified workers as “managers” to make them overtime-exempt, but that these employees performed roughly the same duties as hourly employees entitled to overtime.
- Almost 10,000 current and former employees filed a class action unpaid overtime lawsuit against Chipotle, claiming the nationwide restaurant chain routinely forces them to stay late at work with no extra pay. Chipotle claimed the discrepancies are due to a few bad store managers trying to skirt overtime pay laws in order to meet deadlines and payroll budgets.
Baja Fresh Overtime Pay Lawyer Review
