Amazon Unpaid Wages Lawsuit

An unpaid wages lawsuit class action lawsuit has been filed against Amazon alleging the company violated Pennsylvania employment laws by failing to pay employees for all time worked for the company. The unpaid wages claim alleges employees were not properly paid for time spent waiting for a screening process at the end of their shift or prior to meal breaks.

The lawsuit (case number 3:13-cv-02698-MEM) alleges Amazon violated the Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act by failing to pay an employee at the company's Hazleton, Pennsylvania facility for all time worked.

Specifically, the unpaid wages lawsuit alleges warehouse workers were not paid for an end-of-shift screening process that "approximately takes between 10 and 20 minutes, and, with delays … can last longer." Furthermore, according to the lawsuit, employees were required to undergo this process during meal breaks, as well as at the end of a shift. The lawsuit states that the screening process was not required for every shift, but was required twice a week at the end of the shift and twice a week prior to the meal break.

This, the plaintiff argues, can add up to 85 minutes a week of unpaid time, when delays for searching with a metal detecting wand and/or inspection of bags are added into the process. When the screening process occurs at the start of the meal break, the lawsuit alleges, the employees miss out on more than 10 minutes of their 30-minute unpaid meal break because they must clock out prior to going through screening.

Employees who may have been working 40 hours a week may have been missing out on overtime pay. The lawsuit seeks class action status on behalf of employees who worked at the Amazon warehouse from 2010 to the present.

Unpaid wages lawsuits, alleging employees should be paid for time spent going through screening processes have been filed against other companies, including Apple, Inc. That lawsuit alleges employees at Apple stores in California and New York were forced to go through security checks that took 10 to 15 minutes out of their lunch break and at the end of their day but they were not paid for their time. In 2009, Amazon.com faced a lawsuit filed in Seattle, alleging warehouse workers were not properly compensated for time working due to clocking in and out policies. According to the lawsuit, employees were required to clock in before their scheduled start times but those times were then rounded to the nearest quarter hour, even though employees were performing job-related duties during those times.

Lawsuits alleging employees should be paid for time spent undergoing screening processes argue that because screening is done to benefit the employer the process is a job duty and employees should therefore be paid for their time.

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Published on Feb-24-14