In December, I blogged about off-the-clock work in my post Unreported, Off-the-Clock Work. Off-the-clock work includes meal break time, and issues arise when employees work during these breaks, or claim that they work during these breaks, but are not paid. Recently, an Ohio federal judge decertified a class of employees who alleged that their
Automatic Lunch Deduction
What Is Working Time? Listen To My Webcast Airing on January 17, 2013
I often post on and discuss working time issues, e.g. travel time, on-call time, automatic lunch deduction cases, training time and, of late, after-hours employee email/blackberry usage and whether it is "work hours."
On Thursday, January 17, 2013, at 11AM, I am giving a one-hour Webcast on the topic "What Is Working Time and When Is…
FLSA Collective Action Dismissed for Failure of Lead Plaintiff To File Opt-in: Yes!
When I begin defending a Fair Labor Standards Act collective action, one of the first strategies I look for is to find some way to kick the named plaintiff out of the lawsuit, whether through, perhaps, a Rule 68 Offer of Judgment or a contention that they are not a valid part of the lawsuit…
The United States Department of Labor Targets Wage and Hour Abuses In The Residential Care Industry
On December 1, 2011, the United States Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced that it will be conducting an “enforcement initiative” focused on the residential care industry in North Carolina. The residential care industry consists of group homes, long term care facilities, and other businesses that provide care for individuals who are incapable of caring for…
The Danger of Automatic Lunch Deductions Surfaces (Again)
I recently gave a presentation at a national wage-hour conference in Miami on the perils of automatic deductions for lunch and the possibility that such a procedure could lead to class actions, with the allegation that the employee(s) worked through lunch but nevertheless suffered an automatic deductions. I have also found that many hospitals and…
Health Care Industry: DOL Intensified Focus Mandates More Awareness
In a recent posting in the Wage Hour Defense Blog, Kara Maciel brought attention to the new, intensified focus by the federal Department of Labor in auditing and inspecting health care facilities. I represent a number of such facilities and have also noticed an uptick in such investigations, especially as concerns lunch breaks and rounding. …
Are Smart Time Clocks, In Fact, “Smart?”— Class Action Involving Automatic Lunch Deductions
There are employers whose “smart” time clocks automatically make a thirty minute deduction every day for lunch, supposedly and assumedly taken. I have railed against this practice, advising that the far safer thing is to have employees punch out and then back in for lunch, because someone, somewhere down the line, will assert that they…
US DOL Finds 4,000 Nurses at SSM Health Care Owed One Million Dollars Over Missed Lunches
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, there is no law requiring employees receive a lunch period or break times. However, when the employer gives time for lunch, the employees must receive at least thirty minutes and the time must be uninterrupted. Put differently, the employees must be completely relieved from duty. When employees are not…