SAN DIEGO — A group of Black and Decker employees agreed to settle their wage claims under the California state law against their employer in the amount of $4.97 million. These plaintiffs included field technicians who alleged that the company failed to properly compensate them for their time spent driving to worksites, failed to pay them minimum wage and overtime, and failed to provide appropriate meal and rest breaks. The company allegedly required workers to subtract the first and last thirty minutes from their time sheets when driving from home to a work site. Additionally, the plaintiffs also included over eight hundred employees who claimed the company failed to provide them with accurate wage statements.
Calculating Compensable Travel Time
Under the California Labor Code, travel time may be compensable depending on whether the employee is subject to the control of the employer. Time spent commuting from an employee’s regular place of work everyday is not compensable work time. If an employee spends time traveling to a location for a special assignment or spends substantial travel time for an emergency outside normal work hours, that time spent traveling during regular work hours is considered part of their principal job duties. Therefore, travel time under these circumstances or outside of normal work hours is compensable work time.
If an employee reports to a central location to pick up equipment before proceeding to his or her assigned worksite, the time spent traveling to the central location is not compensable work time. However, the time spent traveling to the assigned worksite is work time. Overnight travel or travel away from home is always compensable under California law. Finally, regular meal periods and time spent sleeping or in other leisure activities while traveling is not work time, and the employer does not have to compensate the employee for this time.
Wage Statements
Under California law, employers are required to provide employees an itemized wage statement that, generally, must contain the following information:
- The gross wages earned;
- Total number of hours worked (not required for certain exempt employees);
- All deductions from pay;
- Total net wages earned;
- The inclusive dates of the period for which the employee is paid;
- The name of the employee and the last four digits of his or her Social Security number (or employee identification number);
- The legal name and address of the employer; and
- The applicable hourly rates during the pay period and the number of hours worked at each hourly rate by the employee;
- For piece-rate employees, must contain information on the number of piece-rate units applicable to the pay period;
- For temporary services employers, must provide information regarding the rate of pay and total hours worked for each temporary services assignment.
If you or someone you know is being deprived of compensation for travel time that is considered work time, or not provided accurate wage statements as required by state law, you should call (855) 754-2795 or complete the Free Unpaid Overtime Case Review form on the top right of this page. Our top rated team of wage lawyers will evaluate your situation to determine your best course of action. We will also determine if it is in your best interest to file a lawsuit against your employer. There are strict time limitations for filing, so it is important that you call our experienced attorneys today.