LOS ANGELES — Maria Garcia, a former sales clerk for a Hollister Co. store in Los Angeles, filed a class action wage suit against her former employer for alleged violations of the wage provisions of the California Labor Code. In her suit, Garcia is seeking unspecified damages of not less than $5 million, in addition to payment of back wages and an injunction against the company’s allegedly illegal scheduling policies. This is the latest in a string of similar lawsuits challenging scheduling policies by retail establishments, and retailers like Forever 21 and BCBG Max Azaria were hit with these suits last year.
On-Call Scheduling Policies
According to the suit, Hollister regularly scheduled employees and required them to show up for on-call shifts, but they were often sent home without any compensation when a store manager decided they were not needed. Hollister allegedly scheduled these uncertain on-call shifts immediately before or after an employee’s regular shift, but did not allow employees to inquire if they will be needed until one hour before the on-call shift is supposed to start. If the on-call shift was not scheduled close to the time of a regularly-scheduled shift, employees were still required to appear at work or call in on the day of the scheduled shift.
The suit states that Hollister required employees to treat these on-call shifts as mandatory, but frequently did not permit them to work a scheduled on-call shift. Therefore, employees were deprived of the opportunity to earn compensation for the time they have made available to Hollister. The company essentially required its employees to mold their lives around the possibility that they might work an on-call shift.
California Industrial Welfare Commission Orders on “Reporting Time Pay”
The California Industrial Welfare Commission issued an order to guarantee at least partial compensation for employees who report to their job expecting to work a specified number of hours but who are deprived of that amount of work because of inadequate scheduling or lack of proper notice by their employer. The order requires employers to pay nonexempt employees for certain unworked but regularly scheduled time, which is known as “reporting time pay.”
According to the order, each workday an employee is required to report to work, but is not put to work or is furnished with less than half of his or her usual or scheduled day’s work, the employee must be paid for half the usual or scheduled day’s work, but not less than two hours nor more than four hours, at his or her regular pay rate. Additionally, if an employee is required to report to work a second time in any workday and is furnished less than two hours of work on the second shift, he or she must be paid for two hours at the regular pay rate.
Employers must ensure their policies are in compliance with the various federal and state requirements that protect employees from wage theft. If you believe that you have been deprived of your wage duly-earned wages, you should call (855) 754-2795 or complete the Free Unpaid Overtime Case Review form on the top right of this page. Our wage lawyers will evaluate your situation and help you obtain the compensation that you are entitled to. Call our experienced attorneys today.