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In an overtime case filed by St. Louis overtime lawyers in federal court in St. Louis, Missouri, against Enterprise Holdings (formerly known as Enterprise Rent-A-Car), the Judge recently issued an Order granting the plaintiffs request to conditionally certify a class of employees who claim they were unlawfully denied overtime pay. The two named plaintiffs are customer service representatives in St. Louis, Missouri who staff customer service telephone lines at call centers and from their homes. The plaintiffs allege that Enterprise violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by requiring them to work before, during, and after their shifts without paid compensation.
The Court’s certification of the class will potentially increase the number of plaintiffs in the case, in that an additional larger group of past and present Enterprise employees will be notified of the case and advised of their right to “opt in” as plaintiffs in the case. Conditional class certification is important in any overtime case because it potentially increases the number of plaintiffs, raises the financial stakes, and places greater pressure on the defendant to settle.
To handle telephone calls, the named plaintiffs are required to log in and use a computer system, a telephone system, and various computer programs, applications, and data. The plaintiffs allege that they (along with a group of other employees) were not paid for the time it took them to perform these tasks. They allege that Enterprise required them to perform these computer tasks “off the clock” so that the employees could be ready to take calls the moment their shift begins, and that when they previously tried to complete those tasks on the clock and for pay, Enterprise criticized them for being unproductive since they were not ready to take calls during every moment of their shift.
Federal and/or State wage and hour laws require employees to be paid for all hours worked. Employers sometimes try to get around these laws by requiring emloyees to perform time that is unaccounted for, usually before the work shift, during breaks, or after the work shift. If you are an hourly employee who is performing work-related tasks “off the clock,” you should consult a St. Louis overtime attorney to determine your rights under the law, as you may be entitled to additional compensation from your employer.