For many employees, the lunch hour is a welcome break during their hectic workdays. They may use the time to do a lot more than just eat their lunches. It’s an ideal opportunity to make personal calls, socialize with their co-workers, get out for some fresh air, or run a few errands. It can be the bright point of their day, any day.
However, other people may eat quickly and then return to their work in less than an hour. Some will never leave their desks, eating while still handling calls or other work-related tasks. For those who habitually do not take a full hour for their lunches and still have an hour of work time automatically deducted from each workday, there is a good chance they have a right to recover those wages.
Every Hour Should Be Counted!
Employees must be paid for all time worked. That includes time spent doing extra work at night from home, coming in early for “off-the-clock” meetings, staying “a little late to finish things up,” and working through any part of their lunch hour. All of that time should be paid!
Many companies are guilty of cutting hours from their employees’ timecards, and one of the more common ways is by taking an automatic hour deduction for lunch. Because this is usually a company-wide practice, many hourly employees at the same business will have been financially harmed by this practice. There is an opportunity to file a collective or class action lawsuit against the business to recover unpaid wages, which can amount to quite a large amount of money over the course of a few years.
We Handle Collective & Class Action Employment Claims
USA Employment Lawyers files class action lawsuits for unpaid wages, including automatic lunch hour deductions. If your employer has a system that automatically removes an hour from your time sheet each day for your lunch break, but you take less than an hour to eat lunch or work at your desk during lunch, please contact us. We are committed to helping employees recover their unpaid wages and any applicable damages they are legally entitled to.
Call us today at (800) 483-0998or fill out our online contact formto request your free case evaluation.