Labor & Employment Law

Off-The-Clock Work: A Hidden Danger Explodes

By Mark Tabakman

I have posted numerous times on the issues of preliminary and postliminary work and whether these activities are compensable.  Part and parcel of this issue is whether such time is compensable.  A recent case highlights (again) this issue and the confusion that well-intending employers face when determining whether or not to pay employees for alleged working time.

A federal judge has granted conditional certification to what could be a class of 8,000 workers employed at Huhtamaki Inc.  The suit alleged that this company, which does consumer packaging, did not pay employees for so-called 'off-the-clock' work that it mandated they do.  The case is entitled Shockey v. Huhtamaki, Inc. and was filed in the District of Kansas.

The theory is that the company improperly rounded the time of the workers to reflect their scheduled shift times, when they actually (according to the allegations) engaged in tasks before their shift and after their shifts had ended.  Although the judge found that rounding policies varied amongst the company facilities, which are situate in ten states, there was sufficient similarity to make a granting of conditional certification appropriate.  At a later stage in the case, the employer-defendant will be able to (possibly) make a showing of sufficient dissimilarity as to reverse the designation of the matter as a class action

A serious allegation is that the company erased or wiped out time that was recorded on time cards.  Such a deliberate policy, if proven true, could have serious consequences for this company.  The gravamen of this allegation is that the non-exempt employees were compelled to arrive early and stay late to perform productive work, but the company intentionally erased that extra, what seems like, working time.

The company has defended by asserting that the plaintiffs did not sufficiently set forth the precise tasks they were engaged in.  The company also denied that an overall policy or plan that was intended to preclude employees from getting their rightly due compensation, contending that in numerous instances, the company did in fact compensate employees for working additional time.
 

Full post as published by Wage & Hour - Development & Highlights on August 16, 2010 (boomark / email).