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from the all-work-and-no-pay-makes-Jack-a-litigious-boy dept.
Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following (paywalled) story:
July 26, 2018
Starbucks Corp. must pay employees for off-the-clock work such as closing and locking stores, the California Supreme Court ruled on Thursday in a decision that could have broad implications for companies that employ workers paid by the hour across the state.
The decision is a departure from a federal standard that gives employers greater leeway to deny workers’ compensation for short tasks, such as putting on a uniform, that are performed before they clock in or after they clock out.
More details are available from pbs.org:
The ruling came in a lawsuit by a Starbucks employee, Douglas Troester, who argued that he was entitled to be paid for the time he spent closing the store after he had clocked out.
Troester said he activated the store alarm, locked the front door and walked co-workers to their cars — tasks that required him to work for four to 10 additional minutes a day.
An attorney for Starbucks referred comment to the company. Starbucks did not immediately have comment.
A U.S. District Court rejected Troester’s lawsuit on the grounds that the time he spent on those tasks was minimal. But the California Supreme Court said a few extra minutes of work each day could “add up.”
Troester was seeking payment for 12 hours and 50 minutes of work over a 17-month period. At $8 an hour, that amounts to $102.67, the California Supreme Court said.
“That is enough to pay a utility bill, buy a week of groceries, or cover a month of bus fares,” Associate Justice Goodwin Liu wrote. “What Starbucks calls ‘de minimis’ is not de minimis at all to many ordinary people who work for hourly wages.”
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(Score: 3, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Sunday July 29 2018, @02:53PM
Walking coworkers to their cars may be a courtesy, in most cases. On the other hand, it may be a necessity. Starbucks doesn't do business only in wealthy cities, and good neighborhoods. Depending on time and place, I've walked a few coworkers to their cars. Other times, I've watched as coworkers left the property. I've taken more care to watch out for coworkers after threats have been made, and less care when I deem it all to be a waste of time.
The one instance in which the company decided that they needed some extra security made me laugh. Fat bastard sat in his car all night long, near to the front entrance. A couple times each night, he would start the car, and drive from the front entrance, to the other entrances, sometimes shining a light. I could have bypassed fat bastard with ease. Drive up the adjoining road, park, walk across the railroad tracks, down through a ditch, up a six foot embankment, then over the chain link fence. Once inside the fence, anyone I had it in for would be at my mercy, and the fat bastard could only react after the fact.
Management never did understand that. They ASSumed that if the disgruntled employee returned with revenge on his mind, he would come in through the main entrance.