ATLANTA — A rent-to-own retailer, Aaron’s Inc., is facing a potential class action wage and overtime lawsuit in Pennsylvania federal court. The company allegedly failed to pay its store managers in at least two states, Pennsylvania and Maryland, the overtime wages they had earned when they worked more than 40 hours in a workweek. By failing to pay for all of the hours the managers worked, the managers claim the company violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), as well as the labor laws of both Maryland and Pennsylvania.
The Manager’s Claim
This is the most recent lawsuit related to Aaron’s wage-and-hours practices. A Georgia federal judge approved a settlement, in December 2014, resolving a collective action claiming the company failed to provide meal breaks to its employees. And Aaron’s has previously been accused of misclassifying its assistant store managers as exempt from overtime.
Three former store managers filed the recent lawsuit. The three managers represent three separate groups of potential class members in the class action including account managers, customer account managers, and sales managers. The three former managers are hoping to represent current and former managers who have worked for the company at any time since April 6, 2012. In their request for class action status, the managers claim the company had a uniform policy which was applied across all of its stores and, therefore, potentially affected managers in all three groups in the same way.
The managers claim they were required to work off the clock on a regular basis due to Aaron’s company policies. As a result of the required off-the-clock work, the managers claim they routinely worked more than 40 hours in a workweek performing non-exempt work, but did not receive overtime wages at one and a half times their regular rate of pay for the additional hours worked. Typically exempt employees do not receive overtime wages, so if the managers were accurately classified as exempt the company did not violate any laws. However, according to the managers’ claims, none of three “manager” positions met the requirements for exemption under the FLSA or state labor laws.
Even if you have the title of manager, or the equivalent, you may be entitled to overtime pay when you work more than 40 hours in a workweek. If you believe you have been improperly classified as exempt from overtime contact our team of overtime pay lawyers. Time is limited for filing wage and overtime complaints so it is important to call today! Our knowledgeable team of overtime pay lawyers can be reached at (855) 754-2795. Or you can complete our Free Unpaid Overtime Case Review form and our experienced legal team will evaluate your claim. 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.