BOSTON — Wendy’s restaurant chain is facing a potential class action overtime pay lawsuit in Massachusetts federal court. A former maintenance technician is claiming the company violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) when it failed to pay overtime wages to maintenance technicians who worked more than 40 hours a week. Additionally, the former technician claims he, specifically, was retaliated against after raising the issue. In his lawsuit, the former technician seeks to include all service technicians employed by Wendy’s going back three years to December 2011.
The Maintenance Technician’s Claim
Billy Parham, Jr. filed his proposed class action in early December 2014. According to Parham’s claim, Wendy’s billing policies were a primary factor in the violations. Under the restaurant chain’s billing system, individual restaurants were billed for the work done by the technicians. Any work that was not billed to the individual restaurants or was not billable to the restaurants was charged to the maintenance department. Maintenance technicians were allegedly pressured to underreport the number of hours they worked in order to minimize costs their department had to pay. Parham claims the technicians were encouraged to record and bill at least 75 percent of their hours to individual restaurants. Also, the maintenance technicians allegedly regularly underreported the actual number of hours they worked and Wendy’s management was aware of and allowed the practice to continue.
In his claim, Parham claims he began accurately reporting all of the hours he worked in the summer of 2014, after management failed to take steps to correct the underreporting and the policy of misreporting hours. He claims he began receiving “push back” from his managers and was eventually terminated for allegedly violating company policies. Parham claims the firing was retaliatory in nature. He is seeking damages for the retaliation, as well as back wages for unpaid hours worked and overtime for himself and similarly situated maintenance technicians who join the class action.
Recording And Reporting Hours Worked
Employers can, generally, require their employees to follow reporting and billing policies designed to fit the company’s needs. However, no matter how the hours are allocated and billed within a company or to its customers, employees should be required and permitted to accurately record all of the hours they have worked. Employees should also receive compensation for all of the hours they work, as required by state and federal wage laws. And employers are required under state and federal wage laws to maintain accurate records of these hours.
Companies and employers frequently try to reduce costs, often related to labor. If you believe your employer is denying you the overtime pay you have earned, you have a limited time to file a claim. Contact our team of overtime pay lawyers to discuss your options today at (855) 754-2795. Or our experienced legal team can evaluate your situation when you complete the Free Unpaid Overtime Case Review form. 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.