In today’s economic climate, businesses are constantly looking for ways to gain a competitive edge by improving efficiency and cutting costs, which directly increase profits. In an effort to streamline business models, companies can sometimes unlawfully neglect their hard-working employees. There are wage and hour laws at the federal and state level that protect employees in Massachusetts and across the country from unfair business practices. A man in another state recently filed a lawsuit after his employer allegedly broke these laws.
The man alleges that his former employer failed to pay him for overtime hours worked and also made him work through meal breaks and rest periods. According to the lawsuit, the plaintiff was required to work an on-call rotation that required him to be available around the clock. The plaintiff claims that this on-call rotation often equated to employees working at rates below minimum wage due to the amount of work done during on-call periods.
Allegedly, company policy mandated that technicians that were on-call were required to drop everything and respond to a service call at a moment’s notice. The plaintiff claims that his free time during on-call weeks was severely restricted. The class action claim seeks $18.2 million in unpaid wages for the alleged unpaid off-the-clock work and almost $1 million above that figure for the missed meal breaks and rest periods.
When wage and hour laws are broken by employers, legal action can be pursued. Workers in the state of Massachusetts that have been subjected to unfair acts by their employer could benefit from seeking the services of a knowledgeable employment law attorney. A successfully litigated lawsuit could result in much-needed compensation as well as a sense of justice.
Source: calaborlawnews.com, “California Wage and Hour Class Action Seeks Nearly $19 Million“, Gordon Gibb, July 31, 2017