Large retailers are often sued for failing to pay their employees adequate wages. Recently, several large retailers have been sued for requiring their employees to undergo security checks or inspections after signing. Therefore, retail employees often have to wait for their security checks before leaving, and they are not paid for that time.
You should get paid for loss prevention inspections!
Understandably, large retailers typically require their employees to undergo loss prevention inspections to make sure they are not stealing merchandise. However, employees must be paid for the time they spend waiting to be inspected, as well as for the time it takes for the inspection to take place.
Essentially, if you are under the control of your employer and follow work procedures, you should be paid because that time is considered part of your hours worked.
What is the definition of “hours worked”?
According to the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE), “hours worked” are defined as “the time during which an employee is subject to the control of an employer, including all time the employee suffers or is allowed work, either you don’t need to. “
As a retail employee, you are probably entitled to overtime pay.
As unpaid loss prevention inspections have become common procedures, large retailers have been scamming their employees out of guaranteed overtime pay. This is mainly because they have their employees finish their eight-hour shifts before running loss prevention inspections.
Most retail employees are considered nonexempt workers and are therefore entitled to overtime pay. In order for retail employees not to receive overtime pay, they must meet all of the requirements of the Administrative Exemption or Executive Exemption. If a retail employee does not meet all the requirements, then they should automatically be classified as a nonexempt worker.
The California Labor Code spells out state regulations for overtime pay. Basically, if a nonexempt employee works more than eight hours in a work day, then he is entitled to receive one and a half times his regular salary. In addition, the nonexempt employee is also entitled to time and a half for the first eight hours worked on a seventh consecutive day. For all hours worked beyond noon on a single work day, as well as hours worked beyond eight on the seventh consecutive day in a workweek, a non-exempt employee must receive double their regular salary.
For more information on the California Labor Code, visit http://www.bamlawca.com/california-labor-code/.
Contact a Labor Lawyer!
If you are a non-exempt retail employee and have been subjected to unpaid security checks or inspections, you should contact an employment attorney as soon as possible!
