AutoNation Sales Associate Class Action Lawsuit Filed in Santa Clara Superior Court

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A class action lawsuit was filed against AutoNation on June 21, 2011, alleging that the car dealer violated California wage & hour laws by forcing Sales Associates to forfeit earned wages and failing to compensate them for overtime hours worked.

Click Here to read a copy of the class action complaint against AutoNation. 

Under California overtime laws, employers are required to pay employees overtime compensation for all hours worked in excess of eight hours in a single workday or forty hours in a workweek. In addition, it is unlawful for an employer to take back any portion of an employee’s wages previously paid to said employee according to the California Labor Code, including sales commissions so long as the commissions have been earned by the employees under the operate agreement.

Continue to check this Blog for more details on the AutoNation Sales Associate class action lawsuit.


AT&T AT-Home Virtual Call Center Employee Class Action Lawsuit

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On March 28, 2011, a class action lawsuit was filed against AT&T and Arise in the Northern District of California alleging that the companies are misclassifying at-home call center employees as independent contractors in violation of the law. This is the official page dedicated to the AT&T at-home virtual call center class action lawsuit. As progress is made in the action, updates will be made to this page.

Salary Employee Laws Explained

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In all workplaces, employees are either classified as exempt or non-exempt as it pertains to whether various wage and hour regulations apply to them. In general, exempt employees are those who primarily have management and decision-making responsibilities. Some common examples are executive, administrative, or professional employees as well as certain types of inside or outside salespeople. The misclassification of employees’ exempt status has been a fruitful source of overtime back pay awards won from litigation.

Job titles can often be misleading when categorizing different employee’s exempt statuses. For example, even though some employees may have an impressive job title (e.g. manager) a closer look at their responsibilities might reveal that they should be classified as non-exempt. State and federal law have created rules to define what exactly constitutes an exempt employee. These rules all have two requirements: a minimum salary requirement and a general description of job duties which the employee must exercise in order to be classified as exempt.

As for the salary requirement, all exempt employees must earn at least two times the state minimum wage for full-time employment. In California, this would compute to $2,773.33 per month. The duties requirement will vary depending on the type of employee. Generally, exempt employees customarily and regularly exercise discretion and independent judgment in their jobs. These judgments must be free from immediate supervision and must be of real and substantial significance to the policies or general operations of the business or its customers. It can also involve making recommendations for action to a superior authority. “Customarily and regularly” means frequently in the course of their day-to-day activities.

Starbucks Wage & Hour Class Action Lawsuit

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On May 24, 2011 a Class Action Lawsuit was filed against Coffee Giant, Starbucks on behalf of Baristas employed in California over the past four years. The class action alleges that Starbucks failed to properly compensate employees for training time, including time spent "reviewing, memorizing and completing Starbucks training materials," and for completing "'written quizzes' away from Starbucks' retail store locations."


Employee Vacation Benefits

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Are you curious about your rights to your vacation time? Do you feel you may have unjustly lost earned benefits? Here’s a quick blurb to answer some questions…

The rights to employee vacation are acquired as services are performed by the employee; therefore, a portion of the annual vacation is earned after each day of work. Some companies attempt to implement a "use-it-or-lose-it" policy, where employees lose earned employee vacation benefits that are not used by a specific time. Fortunately for employees, this is prohibited.

Many companies have found a legal substitute, which is a cap on the amount of employee vacation time accrued, in which vacation time in excess of the cap is eliminated. All other accumulated but unused employee vacation time must be paid out at the final rate of pay at the time of termination, even if the employee was not yet eligible to take the vacation time.

California Labor Law Regarding Meal and Rest Breaks

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Here is a quick clarification of current California Meal and Rest Breaks:

According to the California Wage Orders and the Fair Labor Standards Act, employees who are classified as Nonexempt from overtime, meal and rest break requirements must be offered 10-minute paid rest breaks for every four hours they work. California labor law also says that if their shift lasts longer than 6 hours, they must also have the opportunity to take a 30-minute unpaid meal break. Under California labor law, the employer owes the employee one hour of pay if any of these breaks are not taken or the employee is unable to take a meal break. This hour of pay must be included in the following pay check.

When the employer does not comply with California labor law by restricting the opportunity for proper meal- and rest-periods, violations are calculated at one hour of additional straight time pay for each employee for each work day. California employers risk facing heavy penalties for violating California labor laws regarding meal- and rest-periods. Due to recent court decisions, the potential for large monetary fines has increased. If your employer