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Call Center Employees Unpaid Wages and Overtime
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Santa Clara, CA: Complaints of unpaid wages and unpaid overtime made against call centers by employees in the US are an ongoing problem and a frequent cause of class action lawsuits. In fact, the practices that result in unpaid wages and unpaid overtime among call center employees is so pervasive the US Department of Labor (DOL) has developed a fact sheet detailing the problems employees face.
According to the US DOL, Wage and Hour Division' Fact Sheet #64, entitled "Call Centers under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)":
"Covered employees must be paid for all hours worked in a workweek. In general, "hours worked"includes all time an employee must be on duty, or on the employer's premises or at any other prescribed place of work, from the beginning of the first principal activity of the workday to the end of the last principal activity of the workday.
Also included is any additional time the employee is allowed (i.e., suffered or permitted) to work. An example of the first principal activity of the day for agents/specialists/representatives working in call centers includes starting the computer to download work instructions, computer applications, and work-related emails."
Other activities that call centers may fail to adequately compensate employees for include:
Note taking and paperwork before and after calls
Reading company literature including memos and updates
Attending meetings and necessary training programs
Working through meal breaks
Additionally, many call centers fail to properly document or track employees' hours. As well, many centers require employees to work "off the clock,"resulting in employees working over 40 hours in a week without receiving mandatory overtime compensation pay.
The DOL identifies some of the industries that use call centers and benefit from these unfair employment practices as "mail-order catalog houses, telemarketing companies, computer product help desks, banks, financial services and insurance groups, transportation and freight handling firms, hotels, and information technology (IT) companies."Mortgage and credit companies also use call centers.
Recently, Sprint/United Management Co, Sprint was sued by its call center employees, who were awarded a $9 million settlement in compensation for unpaid wages and overtime and meal breaks. Similarly, APAC Customer Services Inc, agreed to a $4 million settlement of an unpaid overtime class action filed by employees who alleged that before logging into the company' timekeeping system they spent time logging into the computer system, performing clerical duties and reviewing company notices.
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According to the US DOL, Wage and Hour Division' Fact Sheet #64, entitled "Call Centers under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)":
"Covered employees must be paid for all hours worked in a workweek. In general, "hours worked"includes all time an employee must be on duty, or on the employer's premises or at any other prescribed place of work, from the beginning of the first principal activity of the workday to the end of the last principal activity of the workday.
Also included is any additional time the employee is allowed (i.e., suffered or permitted) to work. An example of the first principal activity of the day for agents/specialists/representatives working in call centers includes starting the computer to download work instructions, computer applications, and work-related emails."
Other activities that call centers may fail to adequately compensate employees for include:
Note taking and paperwork before and after calls
Reading company literature including memos and updates
Attending meetings and necessary training programs
Working through meal breaks
Additionally, many call centers fail to properly document or track employees' hours. As well, many centers require employees to work "off the clock,"resulting in employees working over 40 hours in a week without receiving mandatory overtime compensation pay.
The DOL identifies some of the industries that use call centers and benefit from these unfair employment practices as "mail-order catalog houses, telemarketing companies, computer product help desks, banks, financial services and insurance groups, transportation and freight handling firms, hotels, and information technology (IT) companies."Mortgage and credit companies also use call centers.
Recently, Sprint/United Management Co, Sprint was sued by its call center employees, who were awarded a $9 million settlement in compensation for unpaid wages and overtime and meal breaks. Similarly, APAC Customer Services Inc, agreed to a $4 million settlement of an unpaid overtime class action filed by employees who alleged that before logging into the company' timekeeping system they spent time logging into the computer system, performing clerical duties and reviewing company notices.
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